Abstract
Aims: To assess the knowledge of Biomedical waste (BMW) categories, colour coding, transport, storage & disposal of Biomedical waste among the healthcare workers.
 Study Design: Cross sectional.
 Place and Duration of Study: Multi speciality Hospital, Pune, over the duration of 1 month.
 Methodology: A predesigned questionnaire containing closed-ended questions was used to conduct this cross sectional study on HCWs. The data related to awareness & knowledge about various aspects of Biomedical waste amongst the Healthcare workers was collected.
 Results: Out of total 100 Healthcare workers (HCWs), 40 doctors were correctly knowing all the categories of Biomedical waste. 45 doctors & 40 nursing staff (total 85 out of 100 HCWs) could answer correctly the questions on colour coding of BMW. Only 30 doctors & 21 nursing staff could answer correctly about BMW transport. 25 doctors &18 nurses could answer correctly the questions related to BMW storage & disposal.
 Conclusion: The vigorous & repeated training & evaluation is needed to bridge the observed knowledge gaps amongst the HCWs.
Highlights
People of any age, sex, race and religion utilize healthcare services when they are medically unfit
From the answers obtained from the questionnaire regarding transportation aspect of biomedical waste, it was observed that there need to be a lot of education to be given to all healthcare workers including doctors regarding details of transport of biomedical waste within the hospital & transport outside the hospital as there was deficiency observed in the knowledge about it
We found a huge gap in the knowledge & awareness amongst the doctors & nursing staff about storage & disposal including final disposal of Biomedical waste (BMW) generated in the hospital.This knowledge gap regarding BMW storage & disposal may be due to huge workload, lack of sufficient time to focus upon this aspect as there is no direct involvement of doctors & nurses in this aspect of BMW management
Summary
Sex, race and religion utilize healthcare services when they are medically unfit. The hospitals aid in treating unhealthy people but unknowingly without people being aware about the bad effects of the waste generated in the process on the environment & mankind. It is a well-known & entrenched that hospital waste is an inherent health hazard to the health care workers working in the facility as well as to the people in the vicinity & ecosystem present. The study was planned out with the main objective of assessing knowledge, attitude, and practices among the doctors & nurses in the field of health care waste management till final disposal including BMW categories, segregation, color coding, storage ,transport & disposal of BMW
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