BIOMEDICAL WASTE MANAGEMENT

By-Ms. Priyanka Wandhe, Department of Business Administration, Dhanwate National College, Nagpur

BIOMEDICAL WASTEAny solid, fluid and liquid or liquid waste, including

it's container and any intermediate product, which is

generated during the diagnosis, treatment or

immunisation of human being or animals, in research

pertaining thereto. Biomedical wastes are

hazardous.

CATEGORIES OF BIO-MEDICAL WASTE

Category No. I• Human Anatomical Waste

Category No.2• Animal Waste

Category No 3• Microbiology & Biotechnology Waste

Category No 4• Waste sharps

Category No 5• Discarded Medicines and Cytotoxic drugs

Contd…Category No 6• Solid Waste (Items contaminated with blood, and body

fluids including cotton, dressings) Category No.7• Solid Waste (wastes generated from disposable items other

than the waste sharps disinfection by chemical such as tubing, catheters, intravenous sets etc)

Category No. 8• Liquid Waste

Category No. 9• Incineration Ash

Category No.10• Chemical Waste

CLASSIFICATION OF HOSPITAL WASTES

What is hospital waste?Hospital waste refers to all waste generated, discarded and not intended for further use in the hospital.Classification of hospital waste are as follows:

General waste:• Largely composed of domestic or house hold type waste. It is non-

hazardous to human beings, e.g. kitchen waste, packaging material, paper, wrappers, plastics.

Pathological waste:• Consists of tissue, organ, body part, human foetuses, blood and body

fluid. It is hazardous waste.

Contd…Infectious waste:

• The wastes which contain pathogens in sufficient concentration or quantity that could cause diseases. It is hazardous e.g. culture and stocks of infectious agents from laboratories, waste from surgery, waste originating from infectious patients.

Sharps:• Waste materials which could cause the person handling it, a cut or puncture of skin e.g.

needles, broken glass, saws, nail, blades, scalpels.

Pharmaceutical waste:• This includes pharmaceutical products, drugs, and chemicals that have been returned from

wards, have been spilled, are outdated, or contaminated.

Chemical waste:• This comprises discarded solid, liquid and gaseous chemicals e.g. cleaning, house

keeping, and disinfecting product.

Radioactive waste:• It includes solid, liquid, and gaseous waste that is contaminated with radionucleides

generated from in-vitro analysis of body tissues and fluid, in-vivo body organ imaging and tumour localization and therapeutic procedures.

SEGREGATION, PACKAGING, TRANSPORTATION AND STORAGE

Bio-medical waste shall not be mixed with other wastes.

Bio-medical waste shall be segregated into containers/bags at the point of generation prior to its storage, transportation, treatment and disposal. The containers shall be labeled properly. No untreated bio-medical waste shall be kept stored beyond a period of 48 hours.

Biomedical Waste Handling Process

Proper handling, treatment and disposal of biomedical wastes are important elements of health care office infection control programme. Correct procedure will help protect health care workers, patients and the local community.

Hospital waste management has been brought into focus in India recently, particularly with the notification of the BMW (Management and Handling) Rules, 1998. The rule makes it mandatory for the health care establishments to segregate, disinfect and dispose their waste in an eco-friendly manner.

SafetyHandle with Care

Protect Yourself and Protect Others.

Community Options for Safe Needle Disposal .

Medical Waste Disposal Policy and Procedure.

Practices to Protect Public Health.

SYMBOL OF BIO HAZARD

COLOUR CODING AND TYPE OF CONTAINER FOR DISPOSAL OF BIO-

MEDICAL WASTESColour Coding

Type of Container -I Waste Category

Yellow Cotton, Bandages, Human Organs, Plasanta,Plasters etc.

Red Tubings, Blood & Urine Bags, Cathetars, I V sets, Saline & Glass Bottles, Gloves etc.

Blue/White Syringes, Ampoules wiles etc. Sharpe Items- in Puncture proof container

Black General Waste such as-food items, plastics, dispo cups etc.

PROCEDURE FOR WASTE COLLECTION

Specifically colored plastic bag should be kept in its container. Bins and bags should bear the biohazard symbol.

As soon as three fourth of the bag is full of waste it should be removed from the container, tied tight with a plastic string and properly labeled.

Under no circumstances, an infectious waste should be mixed with the non-infectious waste.

Contd…

Collection of disposable items (syringes, I/V bottles, catheters, rubber gloves etc) should be undertaken when they have been mutilated (cut) chemically disinfected (by dipping in 1% hypochlorite solution for 30min.)

Syringe barrel should always be separated from the plunger before disinfection. Needles should be destroyed with needle destroyer. Manual mutilation of sharps should never be tried as it may cause injury. All other sharps must be strongly disinfected (chemically) before they are shredded or finally disposed. Sharps should be kept in puncture proof containers and properly labeled.

Biomedical waste handlers should be trained in handling the waste and made aware of proper way of handling waste to avoid injury and accidents.

Rationale of Hospital Waste Management

The reasons and rationale behind for spending so much resources in terms of money, man, power, material and machine for management of hospital waste are because:

Injuries from sharps leading to infection to all categories of hospital personnel and waste handler.

Risk of infection outside hospital for waste handlers and scavengers and at time general public living in the vicinity of hospitals.

Risk associated with hazardous chemicals, drugs to persons handling wastes at all levels.

Contd…

Disposable being repacked and sold by unscrupulous elements without even being washed.

Drugs which have been disposed of, being repacked and sold off to unsuspecting buyers.

Risk of air, water and soil pollution directly due to waste, or due to defective incineration emissions and ash.

Poor waste management practice includes    

Improper packing of biohazard wastes.

Improper segregation of biohazard   wastes.

Improper waste handling in the  disposal site.

Improper storage and transportation of wastes.

Improper treatment, disposal and poor   monitoring  of waste management.

IMPROPER PRACTICE

Training ProgrammesEach and every hospital must have well planned awareness and training programme for all category of personnel including administrators (medical, paramedical and administrative).

All the medical professionals must be made aware of Bio-medical Waste (Management and Handling) Rules 1998.

Training should be conducted to all categories of staff in appropriate language/medium and in an acceptable manner.

ANNUAL REPORT Every occupier/operator shall submit an annual report to the prescribed authority in Form 11 by 31 January every year, to include information about the categories and quantities of bio-medical wastes handled during the preceding year.

The prescribed authority shall send this information in a compiled form to the Central Pollution Control Board by 31 March every year.

Thank you