hospital waste management

Question 1

what is biomedical waste?

Answer 1

waste generated during :
-diagnosis
-treatment
-immunization of humans/animals
-research activities

Question 2

what are the main classification of hospital waste

Answer 2

1- non hazardous
2- hazardous waste
3- potentially toxic

Question 3

what are the divisions of non hazardous waste including examples?

Answer 3

1-biodegradable: food items
2- non-biodegradable: foil, plastic

Question 4

what are the divisions of hazardous waste including examples?

Answer 4

1- laboratory waste
:cultures, samples, glassware
2- instruments used
:endoscope, syringe, needle
3- infected animals for research
4- pathological waste
:organs, placenta, limbs ,etc
5- contaminated swabs/dressings

Question 5

what are the divisions of potentially toxic waste including examples?

Answer 5

1- radioactive
: could be gas, liquid, solid
2- chemical waste
3- pharmaceutical waste
:expired products
: contaminated products
: spilled products
:excess stock

Question 6

what are the properties of chemical waste?

Answer 6

1- corrosive
2- inflammable
3- toxic
4- genotoxic: toxic to genes

Question 7

how is biodegradable waste disposed?

Answer 7

1- using biodegradation technologies
2- composing the items, collecting them and putting into green containers, where they will be put into a bio culture pit

Question 8

how is non-biodegradable waste disposed?

Answer 8

disposed in municipal bags

Question 9

what are laboratory waste material including examples?

Answer 9

1- sample collection waste
: syringe, needle, cotton swab
2- biochemistry waste
: test tubes, glass bottles
3- hematology waste
: hemoglobin HB tubes
:lancet
:ESR[ erythrocytes sedimentation rate device]
5- bacteriology
: syringe and needle

Question 10

what are the categories of person in risk of infection

Answer 10

1- patients
2- medical and paramedical staff
3- personal involved in waste disposal
4- person involved in cleaning the hospital

Question 11

what are the health hazards associated with poor hospital waste management?

Answer 11

1- injuries and contamination by hospital items’
: causes HIV- needle infected with HIV
hepatitis virus: in blood, semen, body fluids
2- nosocomial infection
: infection originating from hospitals
3- infecting others outside hospital

Question 12

what are the routes of transmission of infections from potentially infectious waste?

Answer 12

1 non-intact skin
2- mucosa membrane
3- ingestion
4- inhalation of dust particles containing germs

Question 13

what are general precautions to take?

Answer 13

1- workers vaccinated against hepatitis B virus
2- wear heavy duty gloves
3- do not leave sharps on counter top
4- no recapping of needles

Question 14

what are the primary steps to an effective healthcare waste management system?

Answer 14

1- evaluate scenario of the hospital
2-have job charts for waste management
3- discuss all cost associated with hospital waste management team
4-develope waste management policies
5- train the trainees and employers
6-evaluate technical procedures, cost and polices yearly

Question 15

what are the steps in waste management?

Answer 15

1- waste survey
2- waste minimization
3- waste segregation
4-safe storage
5- waste handling and treatment
6- waste transportation
7-waste disposal

Question 16

what is the purpose of waste survey?

Answer 16

1- to evaluate the types of waste
2- to evaluate the quantity of waste

Question 17

describe waste segregation

Answer 17

1- occurs before transportation and handling
2- waste segregated into bags
3- each bag is labelled
4- each bag has necessary information as per recommended rules

Question 18

what happens if infectious waste is mixed with non-infectious waste?

Answer 18

the whole waste is infectious due to contamination

Question 19

what are the functions of segregation?

Answer 19

1- reduction in total treatment cost
2-recued impacts of waste on the community
3-reduces chances of infecting healthcare workers

Question 20

describe waste handling

Answer 20

1-bags are lined with polythene bags
2-person involved should be trained
3- person involved should wear protective gear

Question 21

what are the divisons of treatment?

Answer 21

1-disinfection
2- needles, syringes+sharps
3-liquid waste

Question 22

what is used for disinfection including its percentage if present

Answer 22

dettol-5%
alcohol-70%
savlon
sodium hypochlorite-5%
formaldehyde gas

Question 23

what is Dettol used to disinfect?

Answer 23

instruments

Question 24

what is alcohol used to disinfect?

Answer 24

skin

Question 25

what is savlon used to disinfect?

Answer 25

clinical thermometers

Question 26

what is formaldehyde gas used to disinfect?

Answer 26

rooms

Question 27

what is sodium hypochlorite used to disinfect?

Answer 27

overall decontamination including penicillin bulbs

Question 28

what happens to needles and syringe after use?

Answer 28

needles placed in white bag and syringe in blue bags and both sent to pharmacy stores

Question 29

what happens to liquid waste?

Answer 29

1- disinfected
2- reagent is added to neutralize it

Question 30

describe transportation of waste

Answer 30

waste transported from facility all the way to its final destination

Question 31

describe waste disposal

Answer 31

do not burn any waste in hospitals

Question 32

in what bags are sharps such as needles placed in?

Answer 32

white bags

Question 33

in what bags are non-hazardous biodegradable waste placed in?

Answer 33

green bags

Question 34

in what bags are solid infectious waste placed in?

Answer 34

red bags

Question 35

what are placed in black bags?

Answer 35

non-infectious waste

Question 36

what are placed in yellow bags?

Answer 36

anatomical/pathological waste

Question 37

what are placed in blue bags?

Answer 37

infected plastics

Question 38

what are examples of infected plastics?

Answer 38

Plastic IV
catheter
cannulas