Orange is one of the most energetic, attention-grabbing and positive colours, and can impact our feelings.
It is, most often, bright but in healthcare it often appears in décor and architecture as peach, a muted option in the orange family, which can help to reduce the anxiety felt by individuals.
The colour orange also has connotations with hazards and safety, being instantly recognisable in construction industries in particular.
What does the colour orange represent?
Safety orange, sometimes blaze orange, is one of the most iconic colours in everyday life.
Its vivid, in-your-face hue is perfect for hi-visibility vests and construction and road work signs. It also helps that it is opposite blue on the colour wheel, meaning it contrasts well with the sky for easy identification outside.
Within a healthcare environment, it is the colour of orange clinical waste bags or bins with orange lids. The Health Technical Memorandum 07-01 (HTM 07-01) lays out the use of orange in waste management as part of the clinical waste colour code.
It represents a potential hazard of infection. To protect members of a practice team, patients, and the surrounding environment, orange clinical waste containers must be used appropriately.
What goes in orange clinical waste bags?
Clinicians that identify known infectious waste and used, non-medicinally contaminated sharps must place the products in an appropriate orange clinical waste container.
Sharps items, such as needles, lancets, and surgical blades will need to be placed into a robust and effective sharps waste container. Other items that do not present a risk of laceration or percutaneous injuries may be placed in orange clinical waste bags.
A waste item is infectious if:
- It came from a patient being treated for infection or from contact with an individual carrying a transmissible disease
- It came from a patient with a history of known infection, such as a bloodborne virus or Clostridium difficile
- It contains a culture, stock or sample of infectious agents from laboratory work or has been in contact with the same.
If an item meets any of these criteria, but does not present any other hazardous properties, it should be placed in an orange waste stream. These may include surgical instruments or PPE used with an infectious patient, swabs, or petri dishes for infectious cultures.
You should be able to recognise which products are not permitted to be placed into orange clinical waste containers. Read our blog, “When does a glove become infectious?” to find out more.
Where to acquire safe orange clinical waste bags and bins
Whether you work in an NHS or private healthcare environment, work with aesthetic treatments, or in a laboratory, you will need high-quality orange clinical waste containers.
Initial Medical provides a range of versatile orange clinical waste bags and bins, including those for sharps waste disposal. They also focus on safe, eco-friendly waste management and can provide a range of recycled plastic or paper based containers such as their new Griff Pac and BioBin® clinical waste container ranges.
The colour orange has long been essential in healthcare, and will continue to be for the future. Recognising it as part of the waste management colour code is key, and can help improve your waste segregation efforts.
Leave a Reply