"Bio-medical waste" means any waste, which is generated during the diagnosis, treatment or immunization of human beings or animals or research activities pertaining thereto or in the production or testing of biological or in health camps.(1) Majority of waste (75-90%) produced by the healthcare providers is non-risk or general and remaining (10-25%) of healthcare waste is regarded as hazardous for creating a variety of health problems.(2) Bio medical waste collection and proper disposal has become a significant concern for both the medical and general community. Among all health problems, there is a particular concern with HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis B and C, for which there is a strong evidence of transmission through healthcare waste. The BMW rule applies to all those who generate, collect, receive, store, transport, treat, dispose or handle BMW and also to every institution that generate BMW. The bio medical waste should be segregated at source into color coded bags or containers and its collection and proper disposal - a significant concern for both medical personnel and general community (3). Effective management of BMW - a legal necessity & a social responsibility. The purpose of BMW management- mainly to reduce waste generation, to ensure its efficient collection, handling, & safe disposal in such a way that it controls infection and improves safety for employees working in the system. For this, a conscious, coordinated and cooperative efforts has to be made from physicians to ward boys(4).

Aims and Objectives:

• To assess the awareness in hospital personnel regarding bio-medical waste and its management.
• To know the existing practices of biomedical waste management in the health facilities.

• The study was conducted at tertiary care hospital Latur from may & June 2024.
• It was a descriptive observational hospital based cross sectional study.
• Study participants: resident doctors, nursing staff, laboratory technicians, ward boys and sweepers working in the institute.
• The study was conducted by using pretested, semistructured proforma.
• The study included details of various socio- demographic variables, like age, gender, working experience, type of work, etc and other details regarding awareness and practices for bio medical waste handling and its management.
• All the health staff was invited individually to participate in the study after giving the informed consent. They were assured about their confidentiality and anonymity. Total 282 health care personnel participated in the present study.

TABLE 1

TABLE 2

The present study was conducted among health care personnel of different level working at a tertiary care hospital. The study participants included resident doctors, nursing staff, laboratory technicians and sanitary staff. Total 282 health care personnel participated in the study. Majority participants heard about the BMW and its management rule and 73.75% of study participants have received training for BMW management. Yet only 52.12% study participants knows correct steps of BMW. This study was in agreement with the reference study of Rajesh Chudasama et al(5). Though overall knowledge of study participants was good and satisfactory but still they need good regular training to improve their current knowledge about BMW. These study findings are in agreement with the study of Yadavannavar (6), but in contrast to study conducted in Dhule and Nagpur (7,8). Emphasis should be given to good quality training of health care personnels working in the hospitals at regular time interval (9,10). Overall assessment about practices related to BMW management suggested that they need regular good quality training and regular checking rounds This is unsatisfactory that many health personnel did not know that there is a proper maintainance of record of sharp injuries and many people among those who sustained injury failed to register it. Similar findings were observed in other study also(9,11). Low reporting of injuries may be attributed to the fact that most of the doctors and other technical and nontechnical staff are unaware about a formal system of injury reporting which should be established within all the health facilities. For which a separate detailed knowledge workshop should be conducted for needle stick injury. To improve overall knowledge and practice related to BMW management and its handling following steps can be taken(9) like, strict implementation of bio medical waste management rules; it should be made compulsory for health care facilities to get their health care personnel trained at regular interval, this should not become merely a one time activity but should be a continuous process depending upon the patient input in different health care facilities; training of sanitary staff should be specially emphasized; it should be ensured that the injuries happening to the health care personnel are reported to the bio medical waste management committee.

Here on the observation, the knowledge and practices of BMW management are satisfactory. The practices of appropriate waste disposal can be affected by lack of proper and complete knowledge about biomedical waste management. Hence regular and frequent trainings of the healthcare workers and checking rounds is must.

1. Guidelines for Management of Healthcare Waste as per Biomedical Waste Management Rules, 2016. (Government of India)
2. Safe management of waste from health care activities. WHO, Geneva; 1999.
3. Central pollution control board. Environmental standard and guidelines for management of hospital waste. CPCB, Ministry of Environment and Forest, New Delhi, 1996.
4. Basu M, Das P, Pal R. Assessment of future physicians on biomedical waste management in a tertiary care hospital of West Bengal. J Nat Sc Biol Med 2012; 3: 38-42.
5. Chudasama RK, Rangoonwala M, Sheth A, Misra SK, Kadri AM, Patel UV. Biomedical Waste Management: A study of knowledge, attitude and practice among health care personnel at tertiary care hospital in Rajkot. Journal of Research in Medical and Dental Science. 2013 Jul;1(1):17- 22.
6. Yadavannavar MC, Berad AS, Jagirdar PB. Biomedical waste management: a study of knowledge, attitude and practices in a tertiary health care institution in Bijapur. Indian J Community Med 2010; 35: 170-171.
7. Patil SP, Tambe MP, Patil PJ, Bhagwat VR. Awareness of healthcare workers regarding biomedical waste management (BMW) at tertiary care government hospital in dhule (Maharashtra). Natl J Integr Res Med. 2013 Jul 1;4(4):74-9.
8. Rao H.V.N., Disposal of Hospital wastes in Banglore and their impact on Environment, Appropriate Waste Management Technologies for developing countries, 3rd International conference 25-26 Feb 1995, Nagpur, Technical paper Vol II.
9. Mathur V, Dwivedi S, Hassan MA, Misra RP. Knowledge, attitude, and practices about biomedical waste management among health care personnel: a cross sectional study. Indian J Community Med 2011; 36: 143-145.
10. Kishore J, Goel P, Sagar B, Joshi TK. Awareness about biomedical waste management and infection control among dentists of a teaching hospital in New Delhi, India. Indian J Dent Res 2000; 11: 157-61.
11. Stein AD, Makarawo TP, Ahmad MF. A survey of doctors` and nurses` knowledge, attutitude and compliance with infection control guidelines in Birmingham teaching hospitals. J Hosp Infect 2003; 54: 68-73.