Biomedical waste management practices in a tertiary care hospital: a descriptive study in Srinagar, Garhwal, India

Background: Biomedical waste (BMW) is generated in every health facility, which if not disposed off properly poses a risk for health and environment. Handling, segregation, mutilation, disinfection, storage, transportation and final disposal are vital steps for safe and scientific management of biomedical waste in any establishment. The objective were to assess the biomedical waste management (BMWM) practices and knowledge regarding BMWM in a tertiary care hospital.Methods: A descriptive study was carried out in the tertiary care hospital during July and August 2014. Hospital waste management practices were observed by making visits to the waste collection sites at different sites of the hospital and for assessment of knowledge regarding waste management a total of 113 health care personnel were interviewed.Results: The overall mean score for “Condition of waste receptacles” was 44.3%. The mean score for segregation of waste was 77%, for mutilation of recyclable waste the mean score was 88% and the disinfection mean score was 72%. There were some good practices observed like presence of posters regarding disposal of BMW in most places, availability of gloves, masks etc. to the workers collecting BMW .There was no separate route for transport of biomedical waste. The knowledge regarding BMWM was not satisfactory among the participants and scope of improvement is there.Conclusions: While there were some good practices observed, there were inconsistencies observed regarding BMWM in the hospital.