The Hindu : Manual on waste disposal distributed to hospitals

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Mar 05, 2003

Southern States

Southern States - Karnataka-Bangalore

Manual on waste disposal distributed to hospitals

By Nagesh Prabhu

BANGALORE MARCH 4. To ensure safe disposal of biomedical waste in community health centres, taluk-, and district-level hospitals in the State, the Karnataka Health Systems Development Project (KHSDP) officials have came out with a manual on hospital waste management and distributed it to 204 hospitals, which received funds under the KHSDP, to create awareness about dangers of indiscriminate disposal of infectious hospital waste.

Biomedical waste, such as used bloodied bandages, used needles and gloves, syringes, and linen, if dumped with general solid waste is hazardous in many ways. It can spread Hepatitis B and C, and HIV and other infections among rag-pickers and personnel involved in handling waste.

With an estimated generation of 500 gm. to one kg. of waste per bed per day, each hospital at the taluk level can produce 15 to 50 kg. of waste a day, while the district hospitals may need to handle 200 to 1,000 kg. of waste daily, according to the KHSDP manual.

The KHSDP officials have instructed all 204 hospitals to follow the guidelines without fail. They have distributed coloured bins and containers to segregate waste. The hospitals had been provided with yellow, red, blue, and black containers, M.Naina Rani, Deputy Director (HIMS), KHSDP, told The Hindu.

The manual has been brought out because of the inept handling of biomedical waste by hospitals. As per the Union Government's Biomedical Waste (Management and Handling) Rules of 1998, December 31, 2000 was the deadline for hospitals with a bed capacity between 200 and 500, and December 31, 2001 for hospitals with bed capacity between 50 and 200, to develop effective an waste disposal mechanism.

But 90 per cent of the secondary hospitals in the State do not dispose hospital wastes in a safe manner, according to a recent internal audit report of the KHSDP.

As a precautionary step, the waste handlers should use protective gear such as plastic apron, gumboots, thick gloves, and mask provided to them. About 60 per cent of the personnel did not wear protective gear and 10 per cent of them did not do so because they were not given the gear by non-clinical service contractors, according to a study.

The personnel need to be trained in handling the waste to avoid injuries and infections.

But training and retraining programmes for the staff on waste management are not being conducted regularly. The infection control committee and the waste management committee too are not functioning effectively.

Nearly 80 per cent of the hospitals did not dispose sharp objects in cartons. Interestingly, none of the hospitals had a fenced enclosure to dispose of tender coconut shells. About 20 per cent of hospitals did not dispose of liquid waste or blood sachets after expiry date.

Absence of lids for containers and overflowing containers were noticed in 12 per cent hospitals.

Most of the hospitals had needle or syringe disposal systems, but they were not utilising them. Lack of knowledge in operating them, carelessness about their disposal, and non-functioning of the devices were the main reasons for this, the report said.

To enforce waste management rules effectively, the KHSDP officials and other experts recently conducted a monthlong training programme for waste disposal staff.

Hospital staff were directed to meet every Saturday to sort out problems related to disposal of wastes, Dr. Rani added.

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