Know the Duty of Major Clinical Waste Producer
Waste producers have a duty of care to take the following measures in managing the clinical waste generated from their premises :
- Segregate clinical waste from other waste streams and prevent clinical waste from entering the disposal chain of municipal solid waste;
- Package and label clinical waste properly to enable easy identification, including information on the source of generation;
- Provide safe and secure temporary storage area for clinical waste;
- Ensure their staff take all necessary safety measures in handling clinical waste, and provide sufficient training for them; and
- Compile a Clinical Waste Management Plan for reference by their staff.
Specifically, the Regulation requires all waste producers to arrange for their clinical waste to be properly disposed of. Waste producers are deemed to have discharged the duty if they consign the waste to a licensed clinical waste collector (“licensed collector”), or arrange the waste to be delivered to a collection point or licensed clinical waste disposal facility (“licensed disposal facility”) according to the requirements specified in the Regulation. The Regulation also requires waste producers to keep records of the clinical waste consigned to licensed collectors or delivered to a collection point or licensed disposal facility, and to produce such records for inspection upon request by the Director of Environmental Protection (“the Director”).
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