Safety is our number one priority at Stericycle.
Stericycle (including Shred-it, FPM and other associated businesses) takes the current outbreak of Coronavirus seriously and our specialist Regulatory and Safety teams have been closely monitoring the situation. Our aim is to maintain our services and minimise disruption, as well as do all we can to support efforts to reduce further spread of the virus.
As one of the UK’s leading healthcare waste providers, Stericycle is uniquely placed in supporting our customers at this time, many of whom are healthcare establishments actively dealing with the virus.
We are focused on ensuring that we can continue to support our customers and have assessed all possible risks and where necessary, have implemented additional precautions and procedures that protect our staff, customers and the wider community.
Stericycle’s current operational status is ‘business as usual’ and we continue to monitor the situation. However, should our operational status change, we will notify our team members and customers immediately.
If you have any specific questions regarding our on-going service operations during this time, please do not hesitate to contact us.
For healthcare and clinical waste and First Practice Management: supportuk@stericycle.com
Regulatory and Safety Guidance
Stericycle’s Regulatory and Safety teams have been closely monitoring the outbreak of the novel coronavirus 2019-nCoV, particularly developments made in infection control related to the proper management of clinical waste generated during treatment of patients infected with the virus.
On 31 January 2020 Public Health England (PHE) updated its guidance for the management of waste arising from a suspected or confirmed Coronavirus case, determining that the waste can now be classified as Category B infectious waste for packaging and transport. This is a change to previous guidance, which was to classify the waste as Category A.
PHE has created an information page on infection prevention and control, including requirements for waste management. The NHS has created an information page for the general public. Stericycle will keep its customers and team members informed of significant regulatory developments.
To mitigate risk associated with managing waste contaminated with 2019-CoV, Stericycle has developed a dedicated procedure for the management of this waste. The procedure is designed to protect our customers’ staff and facilities, our team members and the community. If you are a Stericycle customer treating a patient infected with 2019-nCoV, please contact your Stericycle representatives to learn more about our procedures for this waste stream.