Biomedical waste management practices in a tertiary care hospital: a descriptive study in Srinagar, Garhwal, India

Naman Lohani; Sumeet Dixit

doi:10.18203/2394-6040.ijcmph20170274

Authors

Naman Lohani MBBS (Final Year), VCSG Government Medical College, Srinagar, Uttarakhand, India
Sumeet Dixit Department of Community Medicine, ESIC medical college, Faridabad, Haryana, India

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18203/2394-6040.ijcmph20170274

Keywords:

BMWM, Segregation of waste, Waste receptacles

Abstract

Background: Biomedical waste (BMW) is generated in every health facility, which if not disposed off properly poses a risk for health and environment. Handling, segregation, mutilation, disinfection, storage, transportation and final disposal are vital steps for safe and scientific management of biomedical waste in any establishment. The objective were to assess the biomedical waste management (BMWM) practices and knowledge regarding BMWM in a tertiary care hospital.

Methods: A descriptive study was carried out in the tertiary care hospital during July and August 2014. Hospital waste management practices were observed by making visits to the waste collection sites at different sites of the hospital and for assessment of knowledge regarding waste management a total of 113 health care personnel were interviewed.

Results: The overall mean score for “Condition of waste receptacles” was 44.3%. The mean score for segregation of waste was 77%, for mutilation of recyclable waste the mean score was 88% and the disinfection mean score was 72%. There were some good practices observed like presence of posters regarding disposal of BMW in most places, availability of gloves, masks etc. to the workers collecting BMW .There was no separate route for transport of biomedical waste. The knowledge regarding BMWM was not satisfactory among the participants and scope of improvement is there.

Conclusions: While there were some good practices observed, there were inconsistencies observed regarding BMWM in the hospital.

Metrics

Metrics Loading ...

References

Government of India. Biomedical waste Management & handling Rules 1998 , Available at http://www.moef.nic.in/legis/hsm/biomed.html (Last Accessed on 09/11/2016).

Indian society of hospital waste management. Available at http://www.medwasteind.org/.(Last Accessed on 09/11/2016).

Safe management of waste from health care activities. Geneva: WHO; 1999 Available at http://www.who.int/injection_safety/toolbox/docs/en/waste_management.pdf.(Last Accessed on 09/11/2016).

Environmental standard and guidelines for management of hospital waste. Central pollution control board, New Delhi, Ministry of Environment and Forest; 1996. Jun. available at www.cpcb.nic.in/upload/Publications/(32)%20biomedical.doc (Last Accessed on 09/11/2016).

Gayathri VP, Kamala P. Biomedical solid waste management in an Indian hospital, A case study. Waste Management. 2005;25:592- 599

Manual on Solid Waste Management, Ministry of Urban Development, Government of India. http://www.urbanindia.nic.in/publicinfo/swm /swm_manual.htm.

Collins CH, Kennedy DA. Microbiological hazards of occupation needle stick and sharps injuries. J Appl Bacteriol 1987;62:385–402.

Pruss A, Cirouit E, Rushbrook P. Definition and Characterization of Health-Care Waste. In Safe Management of Wastes From Health-Care Activities. Geneva: WHO; 1999:2–46.

Srivastav S, Kariwal P, Singh AK, Shrotriya VP. Evaluation of Biomedical Waste Management Practices in Multi-Speciality Tertiary Hospital. Indian Journal of Community Health 2010;21:46-50.

Kumar R, Gupta AK, Aggarwal AK, Kumar A. A descriptive study on evaluation of bio-medical waste management in a tertiary care public hospital of North India. Kumar et al. Journal of Environmental Health Science & Engineering 2014;12:69-74.

Rao PH. Hospital waste management system – a case study of a south Indian city. Waste Manag Res 2009;27:313–21.

Gupta S, Boojh R, Mishra A, Chandra H. Rules and management of biomedical waste at Vivekananda Polyclinic: a case study. Waste Manag. 2009;29:812–9.

Kishore J, Agarwal R, Kohli C, Sharma PK , Kamat N.V, Tyagi S.C. Status of Biomedical Waste Management in Nursing Homes of Delhi, India. Journal of Clinical and Diagnostic Research 2014;8:3:56-8.

Mohd S, Kasturwar N, Nirupama N. Study of Knowledge, Attitude and Practices Regarding Biomedical Waste among Technical Workers. Indian J Community Med. 2010;35:369–70.

Saini S, Nagarjan SS, Sharma RK. Knowledge, Attitude and Practices of Bio Medical Waste Management Amongst Staffs of a Tertiary level Hospital in India. J Acad Hosp Adm. 2005;17:1–12.

Pandit NB, Mehta HK, Kartha GP, Choudhury SK. Management of bio-medical waste awareness and practices in a district of Gujarat. Ind. J Public Health.2005;49:245–7.

Deo D, Tak SR, Munde SS. A Study of Knowledge Regarding Biomedical Waste Management among Employees of a Tertiary Hospital in Rural Area. J Indian Soc Hosp Waste Manage 2006;5:12–6.

Joseph J, Ajith CG. Hospital Waste Management in the Union Territory of Pondichery.Availablefrom:http://www.pon.nic.in/citizen/science/ppcc-new/Joe.Last accessed on 09/11/16.

Mathur V, Dwivedi S, Hassan MA, Misra RP. Knowledge, Attitude, and Practices about Biomedical Waste Management among Healthcare Personnel: A Cross-sectional Study. Indian J Community Medicine. 2011;36:2:143-5.

Stein AD, Makarawo TP, Ahmad MF. A survey of doctors’ and nurses’ knowledge, attitudes and compliance with infection control guidelines in Birmingham teaching hospitals. J Hosp Infect. 2003;54:68-73.