SAFE WORK PROCEDURE
Faculty/School:
Faculty of Pharmacy
Initial Issue Date: Nov 2008
Next Review Date: Oct 2017
SWP Reference Number:
Version: 4
Version Issue Date:Oct 2016
SWP Title:
Hazardous Waste Disposal
Description: General procedure to dispose hazardous waste
Prepared by:
Dr Sarah Cui
Responsible supervisor/s:
Research supervisors, laboratory Managers
List the Hazards and risk controls as per risk assessment
Associated risk
assessment reference:
Hazards
Risk controls
Contaminations
Spills
PPE
Sufficient training and supervision
Be familiar with procedures
List resources required including personal protective clothing, chemicals and equipment needed
•
•
•
Proper storage containers, cupboards and cabinets.
PPE
Spill kits
List step by step instructions or order for undertaking the task
The following procedures are summaries from University WHS and Faculty WHS hazardous waste disposal
procedure.
1. Chemical Waste
Chemical waste includes solvents, acids, alkalis, toxic materials, photographic chemicals, paints, contaminated
glassware and consumables, bleached biological liquid waste, and laboratory chemicals that are no longer
required or have deteriorated with age.
• Segregation: segregation of hazardous wastes is listed in Appendix 1
Incompatible chemical (Appendix 2) wastes must be segregated as far as possible to reduce the risk of a
dangerous reaction. Compatible solvents may generally be collected in the same container. However,
halogenated and non-halogenated solvents must be separated as indicated in Appendix 1. The majority of
chemical waste generated is:
a. Class 3 – Flammable Liquids (eg. acetone, ethanol, ether, hexanes, xylene)
b. Class 6.1 – Toxic Substances (eg, dichloromethane, chloroform, phenol)
c. Class 8 – Corrosives Substances (eg. acids, alkalis)
• Packaging and Labelling: chemically contaminated consumables and electrophoresis gels (eg. bench
covers, heavily contaminated PPE, agarose and acrylamide gels) must be collected in strong leak proof bags
and labelled as above. Liquid and solid hazardous waste will also be accepted for collection in the supplier’s
original packaging.
• Empty Chemical Packaging may only be discarded into the general rubbish if:
a. There are no hazardous residues (attained via triple rinsing or evaporation);
b. Any labels have been removed or defaced; and
c. The lids have been removed.
• On-site Waste Treatment: it may be possible to neutralise acidic, alkaline, oxidising or reducing wastes in
laboratories where staff have the required experience and technical competence. If there is any doubt about
SAFE WORK PROCEDURE
the treatment method, personnel should not proceed - leaving the treatment to either more experienced
personnel or the hazardous waste contractor.
• Storage: chemical waste is usually temporarily stored within the laboratory, or waste depot. As a minimum
requirement the storage area should provide adequate spill containment, allow for the separation of
incompatible waste streams and be secured from the public.
Spill containment may take the form of secondary packaging or bunding. If bunding is used, the capacity of
the bund should be equivalent to the volume of the largest package stored plus 25% of the total storage
capacity.
• Chemicals that may become unstable: to avoid hazards associated with chemicals that can become
unstable or explosive during storage (eg. solvents that can decompose to form peroxides, dried solutions of
picric acid) all chemicals in long-term storage should be regularly monitored and if not required, recycled or
disposed of as soon as possible. Any chemicals identified as potentially unstable should be left in-situ and
reported to WHS Services immediately so that professional advice can be sought regarding safe disposal.
• Security – areas used for the storage of hazardous waste must be secured by key or swipe card whenever
the area is unsupervised.
Faculty procedure:
• Waste packaging and labelling: Our faculty provides approved dangerous goods drums (2.5 L and 5 L), they
are ordered by technical officers, and located in Waste Collection Area in Faculty Solvent Store. Routine
Chemical Waste Manifest or Waste Manifest Chemical Cleanout is required to complete and affixed to each
container to indicate the types of hazardous waste in the container, and the generators name and contact
details. Waste that is inadequately packaged or labelled may be rejected by the hazardous waste contractor
and not collected for disposal.
• Waste storage and disposal form submission: after transferring the waste containers with the disposal
form affixed from lab to the waste store, send the manifest to [email protected].
2. Clinical & Biological Waste
Clinical waste is defined as waste that has the potential to cause sharps injury, infection or public offence, and
includes sharps, human tissue waste, laboratory waste, animal waste resulting from biological, medical, dental, or
veterinary research or treatment that has the potential to cause disease. Clinical waste usually includes the
following sub-categories:
a. Laboratory and associated waste directly involved in specimen processing;
b. Human tissues including materials or solutions that contain free-flowing or expressible blood;
c. Animal tissue or carcasses that are contaminated or suspected to be contaminated by pathogenic organisms;
and
d. Prions
• Laboratory and associated waste: all specimens used for laboratory testing; cultures or suspensions of
micro-organisms in tissue culture; used Petri dishes; culture bottles; disposable equipment, used gloves etc.
All unwanted wastes containing or potentially containing live microorganisms must be:
• Sterilised by pressure steam sterilization (refer to SWP for autoclave operation procedure), or
• Treated by a chemical disinfectant (Refer to the Decontamination Guidelines).
Wastes contaminated or potentially contaminated with microorganisms of risk groups 1, 2 and genetically
modified organisms (GMOs),
a. that have been thoroughly decontaminated via pressure steam sterilisation may be disposed of as general
waste provided that the autoclave bag is placed inside an unlabelled strong black plastic bag. Liquid
cultures that have been decontaminated via pressure steam sterilisation may be disposed of to sewer
(sink).
b. that have been chemically decontaminated (by 1% bleach) must be disposed of as chemical waste.
• Human tissues and animal tissue or carcasses: including tissues, blood or body parts must never be
placed in the ordinary garbage stream, even if decontaminated. The wastes should be autoclaved then placed
into yellow bags, and then placed into a Yellow Clinical Waste Bin in Faculty Waste Store (N207) for
collection.
• Prions
Prions are resistant to most traditional methods of inactivation used for other microorganisms. Prions should
be thoroughly decontaminated in accordance with the decontamination guidelines for prions and then treated
as cytotoxic waste to ensure the material will be incinerated. Solid waste that has been pressure steam
sterilised should be placed into a Purple Cytotoxic Clinical Waste Bin and the autoclave bag labelled with the
words PRION WASTE – INCINERATE AT 1100 CELSIUS. Prion material that has been chemically
decontaminated should be treated as chemical waste and the waste drum should be labelled as PRION
WASTE – INCINERATE AT 1100 CELSIUS.
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Storage, transport and spills: the yellow biological hazardous waste bags should not be filled to more than twothirds of their capacity; should not be secured with staples or any other closure devices with sharp points or
edges.
a. Storage: wastes should be treated as soon as possible after generation.
b. Transport: wastes sometimes need to be transported around the University, or faculty; transport of
microorganisms must be wholly contained within a primary sealed container (eg an autoclave bag)
that must be packed in a secondary sealed unbreakable container. The secondary container must be
easily decontaminated.
c. Spills: A suitable spill kit and spills procedures must be readily available at any area where waste is
stored.
Clinical Waste Bins locked in Faculty Waste Store (N207), the disposal of clinical and biological wastes is
managed by Faculty technical officers.
3. Cytotoxic Waste
The term cytotoxic is used to describe materials that are destructive to cells. Cytotoxic drugs are pharmacological
agents that inhibit the reproduction of cells, primarily used for the treatment of cancer.
Cytotoxic waste includes any unwanted cytotoxic drug preparations; disposable laboratory consumables and
sharps that may have been contaminated with cytotoxic material; and the carcasses of animals treated with
cytotoxic drugs and associated animal bedding.
Cytotoxic waste must be segregated from all other waste streams and packaged in purple cytotoxic waste bags or
cytotoxic sharps containers displaying the telophase cytotoxic symbol and the words CYTOTOXIC WASTE –
INCINERATE AT 1100 CELSIUS. The bags and sharps containers must then be placed into a Purple Cytotoxic
Clinical Waste Bin. The cytotoxic waste bin is located in Faculty Waste Store N207, the disposal of cytotoxic waste
is management by Faculty technical officers.
4. Radioactive Waste
Radioactive waste will only be accepted for disposal if the specific activity of the waste is certified as being less
than 100 Becquerels per gram (1 Becquerel = 1 disintegration per second). Use the Radioactive Waste Activity
Statement to submit the waste disposal. Waste that exceeds the 100 Bq/g limit must be stored locally pending
decay.
• Project Planning: research project should consider for the waste output, limiting initial radioactivity to ensure
that the activity of the waste generated is below the allowable limit for disposal.
• Segregation: Highly radioactive and long-lived radioactive waste must be segregated from low level and
short-lived radioactive waste so that a small volume of highly radioactive or long lived radioactive waste does
not compromise the disposal of a larger volume of less radioactive or shorter lived radioactive waste.
• Packaging and Labelling: liquid radioactive waste must be packaged in the approved liquid hazardous
wastes containers. Sealed scintillation vials may also be placed inside the approved dangerous goods
containers. Solid waste (eg. bench covers, used gloves) must be collected in strong leak proof plastic bags or
sharps containers as appropriate. Low Level Radioactive Waste (<100 Bq/g) must be labelled with the name
of the radioisotope and other waste constituents, date, radioactivity at that date (~ total activity and ~specific
activity) and the generator's name. Waste for disposal must NOT be labelled with a radiation trefoil symbol.
Waste that exceeds the limits for disposal must be labelled as described below under “Storage”.
• Storage: radioactive waste that must be stored pending decay must be labelled with the name of the
radioisotope, date, radioactivity at that date, the date after which the waste may be disposed of, the radiation
trefoil symbol, and the generator's name. The storage location must provide adequate security and shielding
of the radioactivity. Radioactive waste that is in storage must be regularly reviewed to check whether the
materials are suitable for disposal, and if not, whether the storage facility remains adequate.
• Sealed Sources: prior to the disposal of sealed source equipment the radioactive source must be removed.
This can normally be arranged via the manufacturer. Once the radioactive source has been removed and the
equipment checked for any contamination, it may be disposed of as general waste.
• Disposal: Low Level Radioactive Waste (<100 Bq/g) could be disposed by following the same procedure as
chemical waste with Radioactive Waste Activity Statement and proper labelling as above, and send the
disposal form to [email protected].
Dr. Fanfan Zhou, Faculty Radio safety Officer could help with any issues with radioactive waste.
5 Sharps
Sharps are defined as discarded objects or devices capable of cutting or penetrating the skin, eg hypodermic
needles, Pasteur pipettes, broken glass and scalpel blades. Various hard plastic items, such as broken plastic
pipettes, are also classified as sharps. All sharps have the potential to cause injury through cuts or puncture
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wounds. In addition, many sharps are contaminated with blood or body fluids, microbiological materials, toxic
chemicals or radioactive substances, posing a risk of infection or illness if they penetrate the skin. It is therefore
essential to follow safe procedures when using and disposing of sharps. Sharps must be placed into a sharps
container as soon as possible after use. To avoid needle stick injuries, needles must not be re-capped. Sharps
containers must not be filled above the marked fill line.
• Biologically contaminated sharps must be placed in a yellow sharps container. When full, the sharps
container must be sealed and placed in a Yellow Clinical Waste Bin for disposal. Decontamination is not
required.
• Cytotoxic materials sharps must be placed into a Purple Cytotoxic Sharps Container. When full the sharps
container must be sealed and placed into a Purple Cytotoxic Clinical Waste Bin for disposal.
• Chemically contaminated sharps must be placed in a yellow sharps container and disposed of as chemical
waste.
• Radioactive materials contaminated sharps must be placed in Yellow Sharps Containers labelled (as
required for radioactive waste) and stored pending decay to a level below 100 Becquerels per gram. Ultimate
disposal will depend on the other characteristics of the waste. Refer to Section 5.6 Mixed Waste Streams.
5.6 Mixed Waste Streams
Hazardous waste often presents multiple hazards (e.g. radioactive & biological). Where possible, work should be
planned to prevent the generation of mixed waste steams. Following are some strategies for dealing with mixed
waste streams.
• Radioactive & Chemical waste: Store until the radiation has decayed to less than 100 Bq/g and then dispose
of as chemical waste.
• Biological & Chemical waste: Treat primarily as biological waste.
• Radioactive & Biological waste: Store until the radiation has decayed to less than 100 Bq/g (in freezer) and
then dispose of as biological waste.
• Radioactive, Biological & Chemical: Store until the radiation has decayed to less than 100 Bq/g (in freezer)
and then dispose of as biological waste
List emergency shutdown procedures
Isolate power via the EMERGENCY stop button adjacent to the exit.
Follow local emergency procedure and approach emergency contacts.
List Emergency procedures for how to deal with fires, spills or exposure to hazardous substances
Fire: Cover the fire with a fire blanket if it can be fully contained underneath the blanket otherwise use a fire
extinguisher (for trained users). Carbon dioxide or dry powder is suitable for flammable liquid spills.
Be prepared for re-ignition: do not leave the scene unless fumes or smoke are hazardous.
Spill: see above spills procedure
Exposure: remove contaminated protective clothing and examine your clothes for contamination which may have
soaked through. If day clothing is contaminated, remove, and wash skin under running water immediately for 15
minutes or until medical assistance arrives.
List Clean up and waste disposal requirements
See SWPs for chemical, biological and radiation spills clean-up
List references used in the development of this SWP, e.g. codes of practice
•
•
•
•
•
Work Health and Safety Act 2011
NSW Poisons and Therapeutic Goods Regulation 2002
WorkCover NSW Code of Practice – Control of Workplace Hazardous Substances 2006
WorkCover NSW Code of Practice – Storage and Handling of Dangerous Goods 2005
University's WHS Policy.
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List competency required – qualifications, certificates, licensing, training - e.g. course or instruction:
The training for this procedure is required; users need to be competent prior to starting any research using
hazardous substances.
Staff approved to assess competence for this SWP
Technical officers and Sarah Cui
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SWP Sign off sheet
SWP name and version:
In signing this section the assessor agrees that the following persons are competent in following this
SWP.
Name
Signature
Date
Competent
Name
Assessor/Authoriser
of
Assessor/Authoriser
signature
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Appendix 1.
Segregation of hazardous wastes
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Appendix 2.
INCOMPATIBLE CHEMICALS
Chemical
Not compatible with
Acetic acid
Acetylene
Chromium (VI) oxide, nitric acid, alcohols, ethylene glycol, perchloric acid, peroxides,
permanganates.
Chlorine, bromine, fluorine, copper, silver, mercury.
Activated charcoal
Alkali metals
Calcium hypochlorite, oxidising agents.
Water, carbon tetrachloride and other halogenated alkanes, carbon dioxide, halogens.
Aluminium alkyls
Water.
Ammonia, laboratory gas
Mercury (eg in pressure gauges), chlorine, calcium hypochlorite, iodine, bromine, hydrogen
fluoride.
Acids, powdered metals, flammable liquids, chlorates, nitrates, sulphur, fine particulate organic
or combustible material.
Ammmonium nitrate
Analine
Nitric acid, hydrogen peroxide.
Bromine
Chlorates
See chlorine.
Ammonium salts, acids, powdered metals, sulphur, fine particulate organic or combustible
material.
Chlorine
Ammonia, acetylene, butadiene, butane, methane, propane, hydrogen, petroleum benzine,
benzene, powdered metals.
Chomium (VI) oxide
Copper
Acetic acid, naphthalene, camphor, glycerol, petroleum spirit, alcohols, flammable liquids.
Acetylene, hydrogen peroxide.
Cumene hydro-peroxide
Acids, both organic and inorganic.
Cyanides
Flammable liquids
Acids.
Ammonium nitrate, chrominium (VI) oxide, hydrogen peroxide, nitric acid, sodium peroxide.
Fluorine
Store separately.
Hydro-carbons
Hydrogen Fluoride
Fluorine, chlorine, bromine, chromiun (VI) oxide, sodium peroxide.
Ammonia, laboratory gas or liquid.
Hydrogen peroxide
Copper, chromium, iron, metals and metal salts, alcohols, acetone, organic substances,
analine, nitromethane, combustible substances.
Hydrogen sulphide
Iodine
Fuming nitric acid, oxidising gases.
Acetylene, ammonia (laboratory gas or solution).
Mercury
Nitric acid, conc
Oxalic acid
Acetylene, ammonia.
Acetic acid, analine, chromium (VI) oxide, prussic acid, hydrogen sulphide, flammable liquids
and gases.
Silver, mercury.
Perchloric acid
Phosphorus
Acetic anhydride, bismuth and its alloys, alcohols, paper and wood.
Sulphur, oxygen containing compounds such as chlorates.
Potassium
See alkali metals.
Potassium chlorate
See chlorates.
Potassium Permanganate Glycerol, ethylene glycol, benzaldehyde, sulphuric acid.
Silver
Acetylene, oxalic acid, tartaric acid, ammonium compounds.
Sodium
Sodium peroxide
See alkali metals.
Methanol, ethanol, glacial acetic acid, acetic anhydride, benzaldehyde, carbon disulphide,
glycerol, ethylene glycol, ethyl and methyl acetate, furfurol.
Sulphuric acid
Potassium chlorate, potassium perchlorate, potassium permanganate.
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