The colour yellow is seen all around us in everyday life, from bumblebees to daffodils to lemons – and it tends to stand out.
The bright, energetic colour can elicit a number of responses depending on the context around its use, as well as the past experiences of an observer. Some individuals claim that yellow makes them feel cheerful and energised, reminding them of summer. Others warn that it could be aggressive and irritating, leaving some people agitated in yellow rooms.
Yellow is especially prevalent in healthcare, specifically the waste management workflow.
Psychological effects of the colour yellow
The impact of colour in healthcare environments, most often through décor, is still debated today. The colour yellow, in particular, has historically been one to cause debate.
One study found that yellow was noted to have the potential to:
- be optimistic
- be mood enhancing
- be sometimes unsettling
- be intense to the point of annoying
- make skin look unappealing.
With such a range of opinions and findings, this could explain why yellow is not as commonly used compared to traditional blues and whites within healthcare settings.
However, it can have benefits when used appropriately. Unsurprisingly, yellow catches attention. In fact, it has been called the “most visible colour”, and therefore the most attention-grabbing. This potentially makes it appropriate for items of great importance: in healthcare, such as clinical waste containers.
Yellow in healthcare
In healthcare waste management, the colour yellow plays a key role in the clinical waste colour code that is laid out in Health Technical Memorandum 07-01 (HTM 07-01).
It signifies infectious and medicinally contaminated waste that requires incineration or alternative treatment. This can include pharmaceutically contaminated sharps, IV bags or chemically contaminated lab waste, amongst other items.
The risks this form of waste may present can differ greatly. Where orange waste containers solely signify a risk of infection, or purple denotes cytotoxicity, yellow colouring signifies potential infectious risks, as well as the opportunity for medical/chemical contamination.3
The yellow clinical waste stream can be used for category A pathogens and items contaminated by them. HTM 07-01 lays out an indicative, and not exhaustive, list of these infectious substances that can affect humans and animals alike.
How to choose effective waste containers
Waste containers for highly infectious clinical waste need to meet several other standards, as opposed to just being coloured yellow.
As the items that will be placed in them can present potential danger, appropriate solutions must be chosen that are puncture-proof or tear and impact-resistant, easy-to-access, and leak-proof. Healthcare professionals can source these from an expert waste management service provider like Initial Medical.
With a range of effective solutions, Initial Medical are experts in healthcare waste management. Offering solutions such as the Griff Pacs which are available in a range of colours, including yellow. Griff Pac waste
containers are made from 70% recycled plastic, and with flat pack storage, professionals can store four times as many Griff Pacs in the same space required to store conventional units.
To learn more about the other colours in the HTM 07-01 colour code guide, read our regular blogs on the topic.
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