Our Commitment to Health and Safety
Our global Environmental, Health & Safety (EHS) Statement guides our commitment to safe, environmentally responsible, and sustainable operations as we work to safeguard the people and communities we serve.
Protecting Communities
Stericycle was established in response to needles and syringes washing up on shores, and our commitment to protecting the environment via the safe disposal of medical waste and sharps has only intensified since then. In the past year, we safely disposed of 40 million pounds of pharmaceutical waste, protecting communities and waterways. We treated 1.3 billion pounds of medical waste, preventing exposure to potential infections. And we shred and recycle 906 million pounds of paper per year, reducing deforestation. Additionally, we offer safe and convenient drug take back and sharps collection and disposal solutions for pharmacies, hospitals, law enforcement, public spaces, employers, governments, and drug coalitions to protect the communities they serve.
Our Health and Safety Management Program
Our safety and environmental management system (EMS) is the backbone of our program. This system and database integrate procedures and processes for training of personnel as well as the monitoring, tracking, and reporting of specialized environmental performance information related to our operations and permits. We leverage our EMS to analyze our compliance requirements, set environmental compliance objectives and targets, and track progress on our overall environmental, health and safety (EHS) management program.
Additionally, the Company leverages a behavior-based safety program, which utilizes training and observations to promote positive behavior and reduce or eliminate at-risk behavior at the job or task level as a key element of our increased safety culture. We regularly conduct on-site facility inspections. Our global team of approximately 85 field-based safety and compliance experts who work constructively and collaboratively with local operations managers in monitoring trends and identifying potential opportunities for improvement at each location.
Our safety training programs have earned award recognition, earning the 2021 Gold Excellence in Learning Award for “Best Certification Program” by The Brandon Hall Group for our SWAT: Defensive Driving Certification program.
Finally, we conduct facility risks assessments, which analyze 10 risk categories, as well as comprehensive facility audits to proactively identify risks and operational improvements.
Healthcare Crisis Response
Over the years Stericycle has served our customers during times of significant outbreaks, epidemics and/or pandemics of contagious diseases in the United States. This includes the outbreaks in 2003 of SARS, 2009 of H1N1, 2014 of Ebola, and 2020 of COVID-19.
We work with regulators, including the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), to help ensure that Stericycle and its partners have the appropriate authority and guidance necessary to help our customers properly store, transport, treat and dispose of waste generated during the treatment of contagious diseases in these circumstances.