Medical waste, as the name implies, is the waste generated by healthcare facilities like hospitals, clinics, blood banks, and clinical laboratories. This waste is contaminated by blood, body fluids and other potentially infectious materials. Discarded needles, syringes, human tissues, blood, bodily fluids, and hospital radioactive waste are all classified as medical waste.
Contaminated medical waste can pose severe threat to human lives and to the environment. Red and Yellow Biohazard Bags are required to contain and segregate all medical waste.
Red Biohazard Bags:
Red biohazard bags are used to collect anatomical waste including human body fluids like semen, saliva, tissues, organs as well as animal carcasses.
They are also used to dispose of the medical apparatus, specimen swabs, blood soaked drapes, gloves and anything that is visibly contaminated with blood or bodily fluids.
What Should You Never Put in Red Biohazard Bags?
Only biohazard waste like blood contaminated objects and pathological waste go into the red bags. You should never put other clinical waste like chemicals, alcohols, solvents, radioactive waste, lead, pharmaceutical waste, apparatus, tubing, food wrappers and beverage containers into these bags.
Yellow Biohazard Bags:
Yellow biohazard bags are used to dispose of clinical waste like swabs, dressings, tissues, soiled gloves, aprons, pads and nappies. These bags can also be used to collect IV lines and fluid bags used for pharmaceutical medicines, disposable metallic parts and syringe bodies.
What Should You Never Put in Yellow Biohazard Bags?
Yellow bags should only be used for disposal of clinical and infectious waste containing chemicals and pharmaceutical medicines. Do not dispose of pathological waste, anatomical waste, domestic waste, non-infectious waste and placental waste in yellow clinical waste bags.
Do’s and Don’t s While Handling Red and Yellow Biohazard Bags:
- Do label the bags with the biohazard symbol for ease of recognition
- Do seal the bags properly
- Do line any medical waste container with the biohazard bags
- Don’t dispose of any biohazard bags in municipal or city waste bins.
Always wear gloves, apron, face mask or eye protection while handling, changing or shifting the bags.