Section 0940-05-42-.23 - INFECTIOUS HAZARDOUS WASTE(1) Each Facility shall develop, maintain and implement written policies and procedures for the definition and handling of its infectious wastes. These policies and procedures shall comply with the standards of this section and all other applicable state and federal regulations.(2) The following waste shall be considered to be infectious waste: (a) Waste contaminated by service recipients who are isolated due to communicable diseases, as provided in the U.S. Centers for Disease Control "Guidelines for Isolation Precautions in Hospitals."(b) Cultures and stocks of infectious agents including specimen cultures collected from medical and pathological laboratories, cultures and stocks of infectious agents from research and industrial laboratories, wastes from the production of biologicals, discarded live and attenuated vaccines, culture dishes and devices used to transfer, inoculate, and mix cultures.(c) Waste human blood and blood products such as serum, plasma, and other blood components.(d) All discarded sharps (e.g., hypothermic needles, syringes, Pasteur pipettes, broken glass, scalpel blades) used in service recipient care or which have come into contact with infectious agents during use in medical, research, or industrial laboratories.(e) Other waste determined to be infectious by the Facility in its written policy.(3) Infectious and hazardous waste shall be segregated from other waste at the point of generation (i.e., the point at which the material becomes a waste) within the Facility.(4) Waste shall be packaged in a manner that will protect waste handlers and the public from possible injury and disease that may result from exposure to the waste. Such packaging shall provide for containment of the waste from the point of generation up to the point of proper treatment of disposal. Packaging shall be selected and utilized for the type of waste the package will contain, how the waste will be treated and disposed, and how it will be handled and transported, prior to treatment and disposal.Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0940-05-42-.23
Original rule filed September 20, 2012; effective December 19, 2012.Authority: T.C.A. §§ 4-3-1601, 4-4-103, 33-1-302, 33-1-305, 33-1-309, 33-2-301, 33-2-302, and 33-2-404.