Bio-hazardous material can be delivered to the Environmental Safety Facility (ESF) located on the first floor of Earth Sciences and Chemistry Building (ESC) and is open from 11:00 am to noon Monday to Friday. Bio-hazardous waste is picked up from various buildings on campus every Tuesday afternoon or a pickup may be scheduled by calling Ext. 35755. Check hazardous waste web page at: http://www.safetyoffice.uwaterloo.ca../environmental/hmhf.html
for times and locations
Packaging
Infectious Materials ( Medical Waste, infectious materials, cultures etc.)
- All material must be packed in biohazard boxes and liners supplied by the ESF.
- Bags inside boxes must be sealed and boxed taped shut.
- Box must not be over packed (14 Kg max).
Sharps (Syringes, blades etc. contaminated with bio hazardous materials)
- All material must be packed in sharps containers supplied by the ESF.(1 Litres Plastic Jugs)
Animals Frozen
- All animals are to be kept frozen by researcher.
- Pick up must be arranged one week in advance. (Call Ext. 35755)
- All material must be packed in biohazard boxes and liners supplied by the ESF.
- Bags inside boxes must be sealed and boxed taped shut.
- Box must not be over packed (14 Kg max).
Animal Preserved
- All formalin must be drained off.
- All material must be packed in biohazard boxes and liners supplied by the ESF.
- Bags inside boxes must be sealed and boxed taped shut.
- Box must not be over packed (14 Kg max).
Autoclaves for Disposal
The us of Autoclaves for rendering Bio-Waste safe for landfill is regulated by the Ontario Ministry of the Environment, Procedures are outlined in
Guideline C-4:
The Management of Biomedical Waste in Ontario
If you wish to use autoclaves to dispose of Risk Group 1 and 2 organisms, you must have in place the following quality control measures. All quality control results must be documented and available for inspection.
- For each load of Bio-Waste disposed of a log of mechanical parameters must be maintained. Please use Bio-Waste Autoclave Disposal Log
- Autoclave tape, strips or pellets are to be run with each load of Bio-Waste
- Biological indicators spore-laden strips or vials are to be run every week you use the autoclave for waste disposal. Records are to be kept on Biological Test Results Log
- The material may then be placed in a regular garbage bag and placed in the buildings dumpster
A Guide for the safe use of autoclaves is available at the University of Ottawa at:
http://www.uottawa.ca/services/ehss/docs/autoclave.pdf