Trash Chute Door7097536
Wow… What a scary site to see. Trash bags caught in the trash chute in such a way that it prevents the chute doors from automatically closing. And make no error about it, the trash chute doors are required to close and latch, automatically.
Section 19.five.four.3 of the 2000 edition of the Life Safety Code demands trash chutes to discharge into trash collection rooms and the trash collection rooms cannot be utilized for any other objective. So, that indicates you cannot store items that are not related to the trash chute in the space, such as floor scrubber machines.
The scene in the picture is commonly caused by the failure to empty the cart in time, prior to it fills up to the point where the bags of trash prevent the chute doors from closing. In today’s economy, it is not all that uncommon to learn that staff reductions in the Environmental Services (housekeeping) division stop adequate staffing to remove the trash bags. Whilst this may be a reputable purpose, someone at this hospital forgot the importance of removing the trash on a regular basis. They need to make this a priority.
From a life safety point of view, it would be much better to eliminate the cart and permit the bags to fall onto the floor. This way it would take a lot much more bags of trash to pile up prior to it would obstruct the chute door from closing. I’m not sure what the hospital’s Infection Manage expert would say about that, but I would suggest it as an alternative if the ES department cannot empty the cart frequently sufficient.
If you determine to allow the bags of trash to accumulate on the floor in the trash chute discharge room, I recommend you conduct a danger assessment to analyze the risks to patient safety. This way, you can demonstrate to a surveyor that the dangers had been regarded as if the surveyor has a problem with bags o’ trash scattered on the floor.
