Hospital
waste are the waste produced in the course of health care activities during
Treating, Diagnosing and Immunizing Human being
WHO classifies Waste into
-General waste – No risk to human health. Eg. Office
paper, general sweeping waste etc
-Pathological waste – Human tissue or fluids from various
parts of body
-Sharps – sharps waste like needles, scalpels, knifes ,
blades etc
-Chemical waste – laboratory reagent, disinfectants, film
developers etc
-Radio active waste – unused liquid from radiotherapy or
lab research contaminated glasswares etc
Transmission of infection occurs in waste management
Routes
of transmission – inhalation of dust particles containing germs, from intact or
non intact skin, mucous membranes, by ingestion of contaminated unwashed hands,
contaminated food, water etc
Generation
, Segregation , Collection , Transportation and Treatment of Waste is as per
the SOP’s of the Hospitals and differs from Nation to Nation
Usually
Segregation is done at point of Generation of waste and put in separate colored
bags, color coding also varies from nation to nation
Collection
of waste is done by centralized sanitation staff or any other sanitation staff
should collect the waste during morning, afternoon or evening under the
supervision of nursing staff and sanitation supervisor.
Proper
documentation should be done in register, details of waste, etc. Garbage bin should be cleaned and disinfected
regularly
Treatment
and disposal of General waste is done at Municipal dumping site. Sanitation
officer takes responsibility for proper coordination between municipal and
hospital
Various technologies used in disposal are
-Incineration
-Chemical disinfection
-Wet and dry thermal treatment
-Microwave irradiation
-Land disposal
-Inertization
25 May 2018