Education and Training
Why Include Education and Training in a Waste Reduction Program?
Although a small group of employees may manage and coordinate your facility’s waste reduction program, the entire hospital community-including patients and visitors-contributes to its implementation. Proper education and training are critical to the overall success of any waste reduction program but are particularly important as your facility gets started with a formal waste reduction program. Education and training programs should communicate your facility’s waste reduction goals and objectives as well as generate excitement for and encourage employee involvement in your facility’s waste reduction program. Each department in your facility may be involved in waste reduction in a different manner, so it is imperative that education and training programs be tailored to each intended audience using outcome-driven strategies.
When to Conduct Formal Education and Training Programs.
While education and training on waste reduction should be ongoing, there are several instances when formal education and training programs are particularly important:
New Employee Orientation.
Like other job responsibilities, expectations for waste reduction, recycling, and proper waste disposal should be established during new employee orientation. New employees should understand that it is part of their job to manage waste in compliance with your facility’s waste reduction program; in fact, “compliance with hospital waste management policies” could be a part of every job description. Education and training on waste reduction that is provided during new employee orientation should be brief and include concise, written materials because new employees are typically inundated with information during orientation. In addition, a copy of your facility’s environmental policy could be provided during new employee orientation to demonstrate that the highest levels of your organization’s management support waste reduction programs.
Refresher Training.
For many hospital personnel, participation in your facility’s waste reduction program is not a primary job function. Therefore, it is good practice to conduct education and training programs on a regular basis, such as annually or semi-annually, to provide general program updates, troubleshoot issues, and emphasize basic awareness. Refresher training could also provide a specific opportunity to address questions from personnel and to solicit feedback on your facility’s waste reduction program, including successes and needed improvements.
New Program Implementation.
New programs always require proper training for success. If your facility makes changes in its waste reduction program, such as revising waste segregation practices or recycling a new material, education and training should accompany these changes. Such training can renew interest in existing programs as well as provide information about a new program. After providing training on a new program, it is important to follow up and monitor that program to ensure proper implementation.
Directing Education and Training to the Proper Audience.
Regardless of when an education or training program occurs, it should be specific to the audience. Although the entire hospital community participates in waste reduction at your facility, each department may be involved in a different way. For example, if your facility is recycling paper, the level of involvement and requirements of administrative staff will be different than that of custodial staff or clinicans in the ED. Therefore, education and training on a specific part of your facility’s waste reduction program may require multiple iterations to train each group of people participating in the program.
As stated previously, patients and visitors are part of the hospital community and should be participants in your facility’s waste reduction program. While it is not reasonable to expect patients and visitors to receive formal education and training, there are several informal education and training opportunities, as discussed below.
Tips for Successful Education and Training Programs.
Successful education and training programs are paramount to a successful waste reduction program. When developing formal education and training programs for your facility, consider the following tips for success:
1. Know Your Audience
Each department may be involved in waste reduction in a different manner. Speak to each group in a way that will best meet the needs of, build understanding in, and change
behavior in that specific department.
2. Develop Clear Objectives
Objectives provide a link between expectations, training, and implementation. Make sure that the objectives of your facility’s education and training programs are specific,
measurable, realistic to achieve, and communicated with a specific implementation schedule.
3. Provide Context
It is important that hospital personnel understand the purpose behind your facility’s waste reduction program, such as protecting patient health, saving the hospital money, or
being a good steward of the environment. Share that purpose with personnel to promote understanding, support, and participation in waste reduction in your facility.
4. Communicate Management Support
Along with the context for your facility’s waste reduction program, it is important that hospital personnel know that top management supports the program. Inform personnel
that management will hold all staff accountable for the implementation of the waste reduction program.
5. Be Concise and Direct
While there is a vast amount of information that could be shared regarding waste reduction, the time that health care staff have for such training is limited. Avoid cluttering
the intended message with unnecessary information.
6. Be Positive
The core values in any waste reduction program are positive and align with the mission of health care: First, Do No Harm. Integrate this positive message into education and
training to communicate the positive impacts of waste reduction programs.
7. Repeat Key Take-Home Messages
Repetition is one of the most basic learning techniques, and it can have a powerful impact. Start your facility’s education and training programs with key messages, and repeat
this information at the end of the program. When designing training materials, determine what three messages should be conveyed and ensure that they are frequently communicated.
8. Address Questions and Concerns
Whether your facility is implementing its first waste reduction program or is making changes to an existing program, staff will likely have questions and concerns. Provide
opportunities for staff to share these issues, and address these during training or establish a time and method for responding later.
9. Create a Visual Leave-Behind
Training sessions often provide a significant amount of new information in a short time frame. Provide staff with a visual leave-behind, such as a poster, brochure, or link to
a website that can be referred to after the formal training has ended.
10. Follow Up for Feedback
Any educational effort should include feedback to critique each training session as well as your facility’s education and training programs. Solicit feedback from participants
to determine whether the training objectives were met, as well as to monitor implementation of your facility’s waste reduction program.
Informal Education and Training Opportunities.
In addition to formal education and training programs, there are many opportunities to provide ongoing education and training informally to hospital staff as well as to patients and visitors in your facility, such as the following:
Hospital Staff
- Employee handbook
- Department meetings
- Department or facility-wide newsletters
- Department or facility-wide email messages
- Posters and flyers
- Labeled waste and recycling containers
Patients and Visitors
- Community newsletters
- Televised messages on hospital monitors or through patient orientation videos
- Posters and fliers
- Labeled waste and recycling containers
Key Resources:
Practice Greenhealth Self Assessment Guide
Practice Greenhealth. 2003.
Presents sample action plan items for providing waste/environmental education for all hospital staff (see Section 1, General Waste and Environmental Management).
Practice Greenhealth Waste Reduction Guide – Appendix M – Sample Waste Quiz
Practice Greenhealth.
Provides quiz questions that could be used in a training and education program to test the waste knowledge of your facility’s staff.
An Ounce of Prevention: Waste Reduction Strategies for Health Care Facilities (Chapter 5, Education and Communications Programs)
American Society for Healthcare Environmental Services (ASHES). 1993.
Details how to develop education and communications programs, including developing a campaign, addressing resistance and noncooperation, creating opportunities for educational efforts, and preparing an effective presentation.
- Note: This document is 13 MB and may take several minutes to download.
Establishing a Waste Reduction Program at Work: Trainer’s Manual
California Integrated Waste Management Board. January 1996.
Serves as a sample training manual for establishing a waste reduction program at your facility, and includes a sample agenda and sample activities, with notes to the trainer throughout the manual.
Make the Right Choice’ Poster
Beth Israel Medical Center. 2004.
Serves as a sample poster that provides guidelines for proper waste segregation.
Sample HIPAA Paper Recycling Poster
Beth Israel Medical Center. 2004.
Serves as a sample poster on paper recycling in compliance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA).
Download the “Know Where to Throw” Poster and Sticker
California Integrated Waste Management Board. 2006.
Serves as a sample poster that outlines proper waste segregation of biohazard red bag waste.
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