English

Abstract

BACKGROUND: The actual biomedical waste management situation in the democratic developing country like India is grim. Even though there are Rules stipulating the method of safe disposal of Bio-medical Waste (BMW), hospital waste generated by Government Hospitals is still largely being dumped in the open, waiting to be collected along with general waste. OBJECTIVES: To assess the waste handling and treatment system of hospital bio-medical solid waste METHODOLOGY: A Cross sectional study was conducted in the major public hospitals of Shimla city. The study comprised of cross sectional survey of the personnel handling and monitoring the biomedical waste and observational survey of the hospitals using INCLEN (International Clinical Epidemiology Network) data collection tools. RESULTS: The results were described under quantification of waste, segregation and collection, transport, storage, offsite transport, final treatment and disposal, occupational safety. The mean hazardous biomedical waste generated by the major public hospitals was found to be 191.5 g/bed/day (SD 93.83). In 91(86.1%) of the patient care areas of the hospitals segregation of the wastes was not observed. None of the patient care areas had designated waste route inside the hospital. All the hospitals except one public hospital had central waste storage facility. Only two of the hospitals (public hospitals) had a central storage cum treatment facility. None of the cleaning workers were using complete personal protective measures in any of the public hospitals. CONCLUSION: All major public hospitals of Shimla city in the study area practice poor management of biomedical wastes. The practices for segregation, transportation, storage and treatment and disposal of wastes generated at the major hospitals need change and major improvements.