What is Healthcare Waste?

Healthcare waste is mainly produced by hospitals, health clinics, doctors' surgeries and veterinary practices, but also arises from residential homes, nursing homes and private households. Healthcare waste is primarily composed of noninfectious waste that is similar to general municipal waste and is a reservoir of potentially harmful micro-organisms that can infect hospital patients, healthcare workers and the general public. The amount of healthcare waste is increasing by five per cent a year, revealed the Public Commission for the Protection of Marine Resources, Environment and Wildlife. For these reasons, healthcare waste is not acceptable waste for standard domestic bins.

General Facts about Healthcare Waste

During general care or medical treatment, the hands of healthcare workers often come into close contact with patients. This waste has been mixed into the normal waste stream and is ending up in routine dump sites, where it constitutes a serious risk to the health and safety of site workers and the general public. In general, the risk of contamination of water sources is considered to be low, though this may change once rain, run-off, flushing and percolation commence. As a result, the general waste is also contaminated with infectious and hazardous waste.

Healthcare workers, patients, waste handlers, waste pickers, and the general public are exposed to health risks from infectious waste (particularly objects known as "sharps"), and chemicals. Transmission of disease generally occurs through injuries from contaminated sharps. Training programs should include proper instruction on the use of protective clothing, materials, and special equipment to ensure the safety of both the worker and the general public.

Disposal of Healthcare Waste

Use of safe handling and proper disposal methods will ensure infection control for the healthcare worker, the hospital, and the community. This procedure includes collecting the waste in tamper-proof containers and storing it under lock and key until time of disposal. Staff working with debris at disposal sites should be provided with adequate training and equipment to ensure that their health, safety and security are protected according to best international practice. Direct contact between patients does not usually occur in healthcare facilities, but an infected healthcare worker can touch a patient and directly transmit a large number of microorganisms to the new host.

To ensure a clean and healthy environment it is important to segregate healthcare waste, collect it in appropriate containers, ensure safe transportation and storage, and finally use environmentally sound treatment and disposal in an eco-friendly manner. In all these processes involved in the management and disposal, proper handling and disposal is a critical issue.

Healthcare Waste Facilities

The least hazardous and most cost effective way of disposing of healthcare waste is on-site. At the simplest level, the private sector may be subcontracted solely to provide waste transportation services to individual healthcare facilities. Although user charges can generate substantial revenue, facilities are often unwilling to pay the full cost for treatment and disposal. Since the method of treatment employed dictates the level of segregation of special healthcare waste at its source, it is imperative that the managers of the affected healthcare facilities be involved in the planning stage of these waste projects.

Importance of Healthcare Waste Management

The inappropriate management of healthcare waste is a threat to human health and the environment. Unfortunately, healthcare waste is oftentimes seen as a "sore thumb" to the daily business of making people well. This does not change the fact that in all these processes involved in the management and disposal of healthcare waste, proper handling is a critical issue.