Healthcare Waste Management
33 likes40,726 views
This document discusses health care waste management. It aims to provide an overview of different categories of health care waste, inform about proper waste segregation and disposal, and raise awareness of environmental issues. The categories include general, infectious, pathological, sharps, pharmaceutical, genotoxic, heavy metal, pressurized, and radioactive waste. Guidelines are provided on segregation by color coding, collection, storage, transportation, treatment and disposal of each waste type. Proper management can help control diseases and protect workers, communities and the environment.
Healthcare Waste Management
- 1. HEALTH CARE WASTE MANAGEMENT OBJECTIVES: 1. To provide an overview of the different categories of health care waste 2. To inform healthcare workers of the proper waste segregation, collection, disposal, and transport of healthcare waste 3. To develop awareness of environmental issues relating to health care waste
- 2. Includes all waste generated by health care establishments, research facilities, & laboratories
- 3. General waste Infectious waste Pathological waste Sharps Pharmaceutical waste Genotoxic waste Waste with high content of heavy metal Pressurized container Radioactive waste
- 4. GENERAL WASTE • Comparable to domestic waste • Does not pose special handling problems or hazards to human health or to the environment • Mostly from administrative & housekeeping functions of health care establishments, e.g., office paper, food waste
- 5. INFECTIOUS WASTE • Contains pathogens (bacteria, viruses, parasites, or fungi) in sufficient amount • 10% to 15% of hospital waste COLLECTION/DISPOSAL • Should be placed in yellow leakproof container • Collected by
- 6. PATHOLOGICAL WASTE Human tissues or fluids (e.g., body parts, blood or other body fluids, fetuses)
- 7. SHARPS • Needles, syringes scalpels, saws, blades, broken glass, infusion sets, knives, nails, & other items that can cause a cut or punctured wounds • Considered as highly hazardous HCW COLLECTION / DISPOSAL • Sharps should be collected at source of use in puncture-proof containers (metal or high-density plastic) with fitted covers. • Container made of dense cardboard may be a substitute.
- 8. PHARMACEUTIC WASTE Expired, unused, spilt&contaminate d pharmaceutical products, drugs, vaccines & sera that are no longer required & need to be disposed of appropriatelyCOLLECTION /DISPOSAL Small amounts of chemical or large quantities of obsolete or expired pharmaceuticals stored in hospital wards should be returned to the pharmacy for disposal.
- 9. GENOTOXIC WASTE • Cytostatic drugs, vomitus, urine or feces from patients treated with cytostatic drugs, chemicals & radioactive materials • Highly hazardous & may have mutagenic, teratogenic or carcinogenic properties COLLECTION / DISPOSAL • Cytotoxic waste mostly produced in major hospitals or research facilities should be collected in strong, leak-proof containers labeled “cytotoxic waste.”
- 10. WASTE WITH HIGH CONTENT OF HEAVY METAL Batteries, broken thermometers, blood pressure gauges COLLECTION / DISPOSAL • Waste with high content of heavy metals (e.g., cadmium or mercury) should be collected separately. • Large quantities of chemical waste should be packed in chemical- resistant container and sent to specialized treatment facilities.
- 11. PRESSURIZED CONTAINERS Gas cylinders, gas cartridges, aerosol cans COLLECTION/DISPOSAL Aerosol containers may be collected with general HCW once they are completely empty. Aerosol containers should not be burnt or incinerated.
- 13. •All government hospitals, clinics, laboratories and research offices shall incorporate satisfactory segregation, treatment, collection and disposal system. •All infectious and hazardous hospital wastes shall be treated before storage, collection and disposal.
- 14. •All hospitals and other related institutions shall inform their staff and personnel about the proper waste segregation (color-coding) and storage, collection and disposal of hospital waste.
- 15. Color Coding Scheme Waste Categories Black Non-infectious dry waste Green Non-infectious wet waste Yellow Infectious and pathological waste Yellow with Black band Chemical and heavy metal wastes Orange Radioactive waste Red Sharps and pressured containers
- 16. •Appropriate containers or bag holder should be placed in all locations where particular categories of waste may be generated.
- 17. •Staff should never attempt to correct errors of segregation by removing items from a bag after disposal or by placing one bag inside another bag of different color. •If general & hazardous wastes are accidentally mixed, it should be classified as hazardous HCW.
- 18. •Waste should be collected daily (or as frequently as required) & transported to the designated central storage site. •No bags should be removed unless they are labeled with their point of production & contents. •Bags or containers should be replaced immediately with new ones of the same type.
- 19. Collection, transportation, storage (within the hospital) 19
- 20. Safe Transportation in a REGISTERED, AUTHORIZED, BMW TRANSPORTERS 20
- 21. PURPOSE:To change the biological & chemical characteristic of the waste to minimize its potential to cause harm
- 22. •Prohibits the incineration of medical wastes •Promotes the use of state of the art, environmentally sound & safe non- burn technologies for handling, treatment, thermal destruction, utilization & disposal of sorted unrecycled biomedical & hazardous waste.
- 23. A. Thermal process B. Chemical disinfection
- 29. Help control nosocomial disease, complementing the protection effect of proper hand washing Reduce community exposure to multi-drug resistant bacteria Dramatically reduce HIV/AIDS sepsis and hepatitis transmission from dirty needles & other improperly cleaned/ disposed medical items
- 30. Control zoonoses (disease passed to humans through insects, birds, rats & other animals) Cut cycles of infection Easily and cost-effectively address health care worker safety issues, including reducing the risk of needlestick injuries
- 31. Prevent illegal repackaging & resale of contaminated needles Avoid negative long-term health effects, e.g., cancer from the environmental release of toxic substances such as dioxin, mercury & others