Status of Biomedical Waste Management: A Case from a South Indian Tertiary Care Charitable Hospital

Efficient and effective biomedical waste management system is of great importance as lack of it can lead to serious health and environmental hazards. The aim of study is to carry out the qualitative assessment of biomedical waste management processes and to estimate the quantity of biomedical waste generated in the hospital. A descriptive observational study was conducted for six months after obtaining permission from the institutional ethics committee. A suitable data collection form was used to collect the quantitative data and was then analyzed using SPSS (version 20.0). The qualitative data were collected by interviewing the concerned staff using a questionnaire and also by onsite observation of biomedical handling procedures. The collected data were compared with Biomedical Waste Management and Handling Rules, 2016 and Amendment Rules, 2018, for identifying the deviations, if any. The quantity of biomedical waste with average bed occupancy of 80% was 394.4 gm/bed/day. The red category of biomedical waste was the highest (25102.277 kg, 43.27%), followed by yellow (20326.901 kg, 35.04%). There were proper methods and practices of onsite segregation, storage, transportation and disposal. Few poor practices of biomedical waste management, including underreporting of the quantity of BMW generated and restricted use of personal protective equipment by the workers, were also identified. The average amount of biomedical waste generated in the hospital was 394.4 gm/bed/day. All the processes were complying with the Biomedical Waste Management and Handling Rules, 2016 and Amendment Rules 2018. Few recommendations were made for the better practice of biomedical waste management in the hospital.