E hoa m?,
Hospitals are built to heal the sick, yet we harm the whenua with its excessive waste. This could be a chance to inspire Te Whatu Ora to practice a holistic view of wellbeing?one that includes healthcare standards that are concerned with the impact to te taiao. Are there any Parakore champions available to join this 12 month long commitment? T?n? karawhiua!
Kia ora
Standards New Zealand is revising NZS 4304:2002 ? Management of Healthcare Waste, a standard central to safe healthcare practice. This revision will update guidelines for the classification, segregation, transport, and disposal of healthcare waste to reflect current best practices and lessons learned over the past 20 years, including infection control improvements since COVID-19.
Why this matters
The revised standard will:
- Align with international best practices.
- Improve accountability and assurance for healthcare waste processes.
- Standardise segregation to reduce exposure risks.
- Support waste minimisation and reduce environmental impacts.
- Strengthen pharmaceutical waste management and lifecycle approaches for medical products.
Project timeline:
The project will run for approximately 12 months, including an 8-week public consultation period.
Next steps:
Please complete and return the attached forms.
Project Timeline
The project is expected to take up to 12 months from initiation to publication, including an 8-week public consultation period. Nominations to participate on the committee have now been extended, Please get these forms to me as soon as possible.
Time commitment expectations
We generally expect committee participants to commit approximately 35 hrs in total. This is contingent upon complexity, the final number of pages and level of content contribution, public consultation feedback, plus our ability to obtain committee consensus on the final draft document. The number of hours is spread out across the duration of the entire project and typically is as follows:
- Attend (online Teams) full-committee project kick-off meeting (1 x 2.5hrs ea.)
- Review initial draft documents and contribute to new content (where necessary). These are usually undertaken via self-organised sub-groups (allow 10-15hrs)
- Attend (online Teams) full-committee content discussion/review meetings (approx. 4 x 2.5hrs ea.)
- Attend (online Teams) post-Public Consultation feedback review meetings (approx. 2 x 2.5hrs ea.)
- Review final draft document and undertake balloting to obtain committee consensus (approx. 2.5hrs).
Your expertise and contribution would be highly valued. Thank you for considering this important opportunity. On behalf of Standards New Zealand and Te Whatu Ora Health New Zealand, we appreciate your support.
Ng? mihi
Alpa Modi
PROJECT COORDINATOR JOINT AND INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS
Standards New Zealand | Market Integrity | Te Whakatairanga Service Delivery Group
Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment, H?kina Whakatutuki
15 Stout Street, PO Box 1473, Wellington 6140, New Zealand