Get support from the top
Support from the hospital's Chief Executive Officer (CEO) is one critical factor in ensuring the success of a mercury pollution prevention program. A first step should be to communicate with the CEO on the benefits of such a program and to request support. A partial listing of program benefits to use in communicating with the CEO is shown in Appendix D. When communicating with the CEO, it is important to be clear how the CEO can help. CEO designation of highly respected, knowledgeable individuals to be responsible for policy and operational leadership roles is one important action for the CEO.
Identify and involve staff
The CEO should designate one or more project leaders, including:
- A person to be responsible for developing mercury pollution prevention policy and confirming implementation. The CEO may choose to accept this role or may designate another who is familiar with the workings of the entire hospital and the procedures for approval of policy.
- A person to be responsible for implementing the program. This should be a mercury pollution prevention "champion" who will be enthusiastic about the program and will be dedicated to it. He or she may well be the one who proposed mercury pollution prevention in the first place and who approached the hospital's administration about it. The implementor is often a staff member who is involved in hazardous waste and medical waste management as part of his or her job.
Because mercury appears in so many different locations in a hospital, it takes a team effort to reduce or eliminate its use. The project leaders described above should select a contact from each department who will help to build support for the program and who has the authority to make changes in the department. It may be time-efficient to hold a "kick-off" meeting to introduce the mercury pollution prevention program. However, it would not be necessary to hold meetings as long as the program leaders effectively communicate the objectives of the program to each person who will be involved, and maintain communication until the mercury pollution prevention program has reached its goal.
Staff persons that should be directly involved are those with the following functions:
- Administrator/policy leader
- Safety officer
- Champion/implementor
- Purchasing officer
- Nurse
- In-service educator/trainer
- Laboratory manager
- Maintenance/facilities manager
- Engineer
- Housekeeping manager
- Hazardous waste management coordinator
- Supply manager
(Note that titles of hospital personnel vary considerably from hospital to hospital.)
All employees of the hospital need to be informed about the program, including employees at off-site locations.
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