Nebraska Medical Waste Requirements

A look at Nebraska medical waste requirements.

Solid waste in the state of Nebraska is covered by the state’s Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), however, in its solid waste management regulations, medical waste is not specifically addressed, only defined.

That’s not to say the state doesn’t regulate hazardous waste. The only mention of this type of waste, specifically infectious waste, is how it should NOT be disposed of.

Nebraska says “infectious wastes shall not be disposed of at any solid waste disposal area unless such wastes are first rendered non-infectious by incineration, autoclaving, or other treatment method.”

The state also identifies the following as infectious waste:

  • Blood, blood products
  • Sharps
  • Laboratory waste, including stocks of infectious agents, such as specimen cultures from medical and pathological laboratories
  • Contaminated animal waste

There is also a lack of information on storage, transportation, and classification, but since Nebraska is one of 26 states covered entirely by the federal OSHA program, the state is held to OSHA standards. This includes the regulation of medical/infectious waste, sharps management, requirements for containers that hold or store medical/infectious waste, labeling of medical/infectious waste bags/containers, and employee training.

OSHA requires healthcare providers to update compliance programs annually, which includes  employee training, identifying new sources of medical waste, and instituting plans on removing it safely from facilities.  Per OSHA, it is the generator’s responsibility to determine the existence of medical waste.

As you can see, many states have explicit medical waste requirements, whereas others like Nebraska publish little information on its regulations. Does your state publish detailed requirements or only definitions?

Learn how other states handle medical waste requirements.

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