Medical Environment Update—Greening your facility without sacrificing safety
Today’s eco-friendly initiatives are not only safe and easy, but could save you some money, reports the March issue of Medical Environment Update.
When it comes to going green, medical facilities are in a league of their own. Although smaller medical offices may not deal with the 24/7 energy-sapping schedule, they still face more waste and energy needs than the typical business.
Combine that with the imperative focus on safety, and many physician and dentist offices may find the task of becoming more environmentally friendly daunting.
Although going green is no doubt a long-term process, the idea that it’s impossible to be environmentally, financially, and safety friendly is a residue of past stereotypes. The combination of shifting cultural ideals with innovative environmental strategies has made going green easier and cheaper.
In this article, discover tips on implementing greener policies along with reducing red-bag waste from Janet Brown, director of sustainable operations at Practice Greenhealth. Medical Environment Update also profiles, Transcendentist in Berkeley, CA, the ultimate green facility.
This month’s issue also includes:
- A safety officer tip on keeping lab coats in the lab
- Research reports on “To PEP or not to PEP,” “Double gloving gives more
than double the protection,” and “Immunized worker
contracts HBV” - Quick self-inspection checklist and an explanation how poorly located sharps disposal containers cause ‘sticky’ injuries
- Hand sanitizer happy hour
- Ask the expert Q&As on unlabeled hazardous chemical containers; managing hepatitis B vaccinations; online MSDS systems
- A quiz designed to test your understanding of OSHA standards and government regulatory guidelines applying to healthcare facilities
Did you find this advice helpful? Learn how you can get all your OSHA questions answered by registering for OSHA Healthcare Advisor’s “Q&A Roundtable: Solutions to Your Compliance Challenges” audioconference.
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Medical Environment Update
Medical Environment Update is an eight-page monthly newsletter designed to help busy healthcare professionals who don't have time to look through regulatory journals for compliance requirements and information.
MEU has written 21 posts.
Comments
Good Afternoon everyone,
I saw the article about being greener and more environmentally friendly, so I thought I would add a quick comment. I think it is great that so many more people are waking up the fact that the planet is in trouble and we have to act now to help. I think we can all do that little bit extra to try and help save the planet. Whether that be the little things, such as making sure all water taps are properly turned off when you leave the kitchen or bathroom, switching all your electrical appliances off instead of standby. I do all these, but I have also changed the way I send greetings cards. The amount of paper birthday cards, and Christmas cards we send every I was shocked to think at how much money I was spending, and the amount of resources I was using. To change my ways, I have now become a bit of a fan of e-Cards. I think they are such a good way to help the environment, no paper required, so less trees to be cut down! This has to be a good thing! I have done my research and I have finally come across a really good Environmentally Friendly e-Card site. One of the things I like about this site is it is so easy to use, I am not that confident with using computers so this site was really good for me, everything was easy to use and the instructions were easy to follow. Another great thing about this site is that it is totally free, this makes me very happy, saves pennies!! I know e-Cards are not going to be for everyone, but I think they are worth a try! Hope you all find this useful, Kind regards, Nicole.
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