Biomedical waste includes human and animal anatomical
waste, treatment apparatus like needles, syringes and other materials used in
health care facilities in the course of treatment and research. This
waste is generated during diagnosis, treatment or immunization in hospitals,
nursing homes, pathological laboratories, blood bank, etc.
Tonnes of biomedical waste are produced by hospitals
every day. An estimated 1-2 kg of waste per bed in a hospital and 600 gm of
waste per bed in a clinic is generated every day.
Segregation is the key to waste management and should be
done at the source of generation of biomedical waste e.g. all patient care
activity areas, diagnostic services areas, operation theaters, labor rooms,
treatment rooms etc.
Only 15% of this waste is hazardous and poses a threat to
human health and the remaining is non-hazardous. However, when hazardous waste
is not segregated at the source of generation and mixed with nonhazardous
waste, then 100% waste becomes hazardous. This then exposes the health care
workers who handle the waste, including all those who come into contact with
it, to major health risks. These risks include AIDS (acquired immune deficiency
syndrome), Hepatitis B and C, GI infections, respiratory infections, blood
stream infections, skin infections, effects of radioactive substances etc.
Scientific disposal of biomedical waste through segregation,
collection and treatment in an environmentally sound manner is therefore
essential.
However, the proper management of biomedical waste is not
just about their safe disposal; it also involves the safety of health care
workers who handle the waste.
“Handling” in relation to biomedical waste includes the
generation, sorting, segregation, collection, use, storage, packaging, loading,
transportation, unloading, processing, treatment, destruction, conversion, or
offering for sale, transfer, disposal of such waste.
Safe disposal of biomedical waste is now mandated by the
law in India and all health care establishments generating
biomedical waste are required to abide by the “Biomedical Waste Management
Rules, 2016”.
In accordance with these rules, it is the duty of every “occupier”
i.e. a person who has administrative control over the institution and the
premises generating biomedical waste, to take all necessary steps to ensure
that biomedical waste is handled without any adverse effect to human health and
the environment and in accordance with these rules.
“(g) provide training to all its health care workers
and others, involved in handling of bio medical waste at the time of
induction and thereafter at least once every year and the details of training
programmes conducted, number of personnel trained and number of personnel not
undergone any training shall be provided in the Annual Report;
(h) immunise all its health care workers and others,
involved in handling of bio-medical waste for protection against diseases
including Hepatitis B and Tetanus that are likely to be transmitted by
handling of bio-medical waste, in the manner as prescribed in the National
Immunisation Policy or the guidelines of the Ministry of Health and Family
Welfare issued from time to time”
The BMWM Rules 2016 have also defined the duties of the “operator”
of a common biomedical waste treatment and disposal facility. An operator is a
person who owns or controls a Common Bio-medical Waste Treatment Facility for the collection,
reception, storage, transport, treatment, disposal or any other form of
handling of biomedical waste.
The Operator is required to:
“(a) take all necessary steps to ensure that the
bio-medical waste collected from the occupier is transported, handled,
stored, treated and disposed of, without any adverse effect to the human health
and the environment, in accordance with these rules and guidelines issued
by the Central Government or, as the case may be, the central pollution control
board from time to time;
(g) undertake appropriate medical examination at
the time of induction and at least once in a year and immunise all its
workers involved in handling of bio-medical waste for protection against
diseases, including Hepatitis B and Tetanus, that are likely to be
transmitted while handling bio-medical waste and maintain the records for the
same;
(h) ensure occupational safety of all its workers
involved in handling of bio-medical waste by providing appropriate and
adequate personal protective equipment;”
(Source: Biomedical Waste Management Rules, 2016,
Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Govt. of India)
Dr KK Aggarwal
Padma Shri Awardee
President Elect Confederation of
Medical Associations in Asia and Oceania
(CMAAO)
Group Editor-in-Chief IJCP Publications
President Heart Care Foundation of
India
Past National President
IMA
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