BAGUIO CITY—The Cordillera office of the Environmental Management Bureau has warned owners of funeral parlors in the city and La Trinidad town to properly dispose of their hazardous health care waste.
This is intended to prevent posing a serious threat to the health of individuals exposed to the contaminated wastes generated by the environmentally critical establishments, offricials said.
In a letter to owners of funeral parlors, EMB-CAR OIC engineer Nestor Donaal said appropriate notices of violation were issued by the agency against the management of several funeral parlors in Baguio and La Trinidad for their alleged gross violation of the guidelines.
Officials said they have discovered some owners of funeral parlors did not follow the prescribed rules and regulations regarding handling and disposal of the hazardous waste.
Donaal informed owners of funeral parlors they could not dispose of blood contaminated gloves and surgical blades alongside domestic waste even if they were reportedly disinfected.
He added this was not a guarantee those exposed to the hazardous heath care waste would not contract illnesses that would pose a serious threat to their health.
Under existing guidelines, health care waste generators such as mortuaries, hospitals, and laboratories are required to avail themselves of the services of the Environment department accredited transporters and treaters for the disposal of their hazardous waste.
He advised funeral parlor and other hazardous waste generators to be transparent on how they were treating cottons contaminated with blood prior to their disposal to prevent garbage collectors from being exposed to extreme health hazards.
Donaal’s letter was copied to the local government of Baguio to help monitor the compliance of the hazardous waste generators to pertinent laws, rules and regulations regarding the proper disposal of their hazardous waste.
He warned hazardous waste generators that once they were issued the appropriate notices of violation and the agency did not find merit to their explanations, their personnel would be invited to a technical conference with the agency’s technical people for them to justify their actions.
