360 Bed Acute-Care Facility

The Sharpsmart team evaluated the current clinical waste practices at the facility to understand user-behaviour, interview staff and understand all of the problems they were facing with the current system. After understanding current practices, the Sharpsmart team then went into a more “deep-diving” analysis of what results were being produced with the current system. Conducting a thorough audit of the quantity and placement of bins and the volume of waste being generated out of each area of the facility, Sharpsmart were able to understand what volumes of waste needed to be catered for in the introduction of a new containment solution. Furthermore, the Sharpsmart team then conducted a series of waste audits on individual containers to better understand current segregation practices and be able to produce an effective plan to achieve better waste stream segregation within the facility.

The second aspect of the investigative stage prior to new solution rollout was to understand current inhibitors with current container placement and movement. What bins/containers were required at point-of-use care? Were there traffic challenges with service elevators or door widths for carts and bin movement? Were all current bin locations aligned to achieving the safest and most efficient results? The Sharpsmart team mapped the movement of current practices and all healthcare waste volumes being generated at each location, and identified any use/location issues where compliance could be called into question.

The third step was to do a 3-month trial rollout of the unique Clinismart waste system in one area of the hospital. Seeing results on small test group, the Sharpsmart team were better able to understand unique facility practices, how accessories were being used, get real time user feedback, and compare segregation results with the new system.