Abstract

Background: Adequate knowledge about the health hazards of hospital waste, proper techniques and methods of handling the waste, and practice of safety measures can improve the safe disposal of hazardous hospital waste and protect the community from various adverse effects.Objectives: A study was conducted to see the effect of training on change in knowledge regarding biomedical waste (BMW) management according to new rules of 2016 among health care workers.
Materials and Methods: A hospital-based, cross-sectional study was conducted in a 760-bedded teaching hospital in Bhopal (M.P). The study consisted of 100 health care workers as participants, which included 75 nurses, 15 laboratory staff, and 10 sanitary staff. A predesigned structured questionnaire consisting of 15 questions was administered to the participants before and after 1-day modular training conducted in two sessions. Data collected were analyzed using paired t-test.
Results: Knowledge of correct color coding for waste disposal in pretest was 42%, and in posttest, it increased to 83%, and awareness about risk of transmission of diseases through BMW if not managed properly was known to 63% in pretest which increased to 97% of the participants in posttest. The knowledge about needlestick injury prophylaxis protocol was 52% before session and increased to 88% after training session. Knowledge about the new categories of BMW disposal was found to be 9% in pretest and increased to 46% after training sessions. The change in the knowledge about different aspects of BMW handling and management after training was statistically significant.Conclusion: Training on all aspects of BMW management will lead to a further improvement in BMW management in the hospital.