Chief Executive of GWI, Dr. Richard Van West-Charles met with representatives of hospitals on Friday and asked them to review how their medical waste is disposed of as water utility workers are encountering hazards such as needles.
A release from GWI yesterday said that present at the meeting were representatives from the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation, St. Joseph Mercy Hospital, Woodlands Hospital, Davis Memorial Hospital and Balwant Singh Hospital.
The release said that GWI sanitation employees have complained about coming into contact with needles, syringes, discarded medical bandages and other types of medical waste while executing their duties.
“Our sanitation employees are alarmed by the amount of medical waste found in the GWI sewage tanker as well as sewage chambers outside of some hospitals,” Van West-Charles stated in the release.
He added that “the health and safety of our employees cannot be compromised in any way, hence the reason for the meeting with all the hospitals; we must find a swift solution to this problem and protect the health of GWI’s sanitation employees”.
The GWI Chief Executive said that he recently met with all the employees of the Sanitation Department who described several alarming instances in which medical waste was discovered which included a sanitation employee stepping on used needles while attempting to clean the GWI sewerage tanker.
“This situation is unacceptable,” stated Van West-Charles, “I am asking that every medical institution review their practices with regard to the disposal of medical waste and that there be some significant changes in adhering to all guidelines that relate to the proper disposal of medical waste”.
The GWI Chief Executive said that he is prepared to take the conversation to a larger public forum in order to garner immediate action.
Van West-Charles urged all the representatives present to examine if there are breaches in their guidelines which stipulate how to correctly dispose of medical waste and take corrective action.
The Chief Executive also said that he will be engaging the Chief Medical Officer on the matter and more discussions will be held to resolve the issue.
