Improper Disposal of Cigarette Butts in Designated Smoking Area
Penalty
Summary
The deficiency involves the facility’s failure to ensure proper disposal of cigarette butts in the designated outdoor smoking area, as required by its Smoking Debris Protocol/Procedures. The written policy states that activities staff are responsible for general cleanup of the smoking area, emptying individual ash containers into a red step-on container after smoking sessions, and contacting maintenance if the red container is full. The policy further specifies that after the last smoking session of the day, maintenance staff must remove the red container from the smoking area, flood it with water or sand to extinguish any embers, and then empty the contents into a trash bag for disposal. Five residents who smoke were included in the sample reviewed for compliance with this policy. During an observed smoking session, surveyors noted that the red step-on container in the smoking area was empty, while a nearby trash-only receptacle contained general trash and more than 50 cigarette butts. An activities assistant monitoring the session confirmed the presence of cigarette butts in the trash receptacle and stated she had been instructed during orientation to empty ash containers into the red step-on container and to call maintenance when it was full; she did not know who had discarded the cigarette butts into the trash receptacle and reported that this was the first smoking session she had supervised that day. The administrator, assistant administrator, activities director, and maintenance director each confirmed that cigarette butts were present in the trash-only receptacle and acknowledged that, per facility policy and their training practices, cigarette butts were to be placed only in ash containers and then into the red step-on container, not into the trash-only receptacle. The report states that this failure to follow the established protocol for cigarette butt disposal had the potential to cause a fire.
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