A study of biomedical waste management at a tertiary care hospital in Goa, India

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Original Article

Author Details : Piyush Kumar, Frederick S. Vaz*

Volume : 5, Issue : 3, Year : 2018

Article Page : 131-134

https://doi.org/10.18231/2394-2738.2018.0030

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Abstract

Objectives: To study the management of biomedical waste and to also evaluate knowledge, attitudes and practices regarding management ofbiomedical waste among health care personnel at a tertiary care hospital.
Materials and Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted to study biomedical waste management at the tertiary hospital and to study the knowledge, attitudes and practices among health care personnel. Study participants consisted of 200 health care personnel.To study the management of biomedical waste, different sections of the hospitals were visited and data was recorded on a researcher designed checklist.Knowledge, attitudes and practices were evaluated using a pretested structured questionnaire. The data was analyzed using SPSS software. Approval of the institutional ethics committee was taken prior to the conduct of the study.
Results: Overall 96.5% were aware about biomedical waste generation and its various other components. About 96% of the respondents were aware of the need to segregate biomedical waste. Around 34.5% of the participants expressed the opinion that the hospital doesn’t follow correct biomedical waste practices. Safe handling of biomedical waste was not an extra burden on their daily routine work for majority of the study participants (77.5%). Majority of the study participants (86.7%) reported practicing segregation of waste at source. Other findings were improper use of colour coded bins, recapping of needles and non-use of puncture proof containers for sharps.
Conclusion: Knowledge and attitude among doctors and interns was higher than other health personnel, while it was lowest among Class IV employees making them vulnerable to infection which can spread through any mishandling of biomedical waste.

Keywords: Biomedical waste, Knowledge, Practices, Tertiary hospital.

How to cite : Kumar P, Vaz F S, A study of biomedical waste management at a tertiary care hospital in Goa, India. J Community Health Manag 2018;5(3):131-134

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