Trash Chute Door7353082
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 needed to close and latch, automatically.
Section 19.5.4.three of the 2000 edition of the Life Safety Code demands trash chutes to discharge into trash collection rooms and the trash collection rooms can't be used for any other purpose. So, that indicates you cannot shop items that are not related to the trash chute in the space, such as floor scrubber machines.
The scene in the picture is generally brought on 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 employees reductions in the Environmental Services (housekeeping) department prevent adequate staffing to eliminate the trash bags. Whilst this may be a reputable reason, somebody at this hospital forgot the importance of removing the trash on a normal basis. They need to make this a priority.
From a life security point of view, it would be better to eliminate the cart and allow 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 certain what the hospital’s Infection Control expert would say about that, but I would suggest it as an alternative if the ES division can't empty the cart frequently sufficient.
If you decide to allow the bags of trash to accumulate on the floor in the trash chute discharge room, I suggest you conduct a danger assessment to analyze the dangers to patient security. This way, you can demonstrate to a surveyor that the dangers were regarded as if the surveyor has a problem with bags o’ trash scattered on the floor.
