Assessment of sharps waste management practices in a referral hospital

Abstract

Sharps waste is part of infectious waste generated in health facilities, management of which is critical. This study aimed at assessing the sharps waste management practices in a referral hospital. The study was conducted at Muhimbili National Hospital (MNH) in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Data on sharps waste containers (SWCs) management in generation rates was collected for 60 days, while waste incineration data was collected from 65 randomly selected days. This study gives a picture on how sharps wastes are managed from generation to final disposal. The average weight per used safety box observed in this study (1.54 kg/box) was far above the average weight of a normally filled safety box (0.79 kg/box) indicating that most of the safety boxes are overfilled at MNH. The overfilling of SWCs at MNH was at an average of 10.7% of all the SWCs collected, with a maximum value of 30%, indicating a problem in sharps waste management within the hospital. The sharps waste generation rate observed in a referral hospital (40.8 kg/day) was higher than values reported in district hospitals, but the sharps waste proportion in the infectious medical waste incinerated at MNH was low (at 4% on average). Increasing sharps waste proportion in the waste load increased the incinerator performance in terms of fuel effectiveness. The amount of ash collected from the incinerator per day was observed to be minimal compared to literature data. The final ashes were 5.4% of the total waste loaded, which indicates that the incinerator is more effective in weight reduction, rated at 94.6% efficient.

Hepatitis B Virus Infection in Tanzania: Current Status and Challenges

“…The Ministry of Health, Community Development, Gender, Elderly and Children (MoHCDGEC) has published several guidelines on IPC in which extensive instructions on proper hand washing, surgical hand preparations, use of gloves, injection safety, safe cleaning of equipment, and sharps disposal have been provided [ 78 ]. In spite of this, the knowledge and practice of these safety measures among HCWs vary considerably in the country with excellent performances being observed in some areas [ 79 , 80 ], while others exhibit substandard practice [ 81 , 82 ]. All in all, in order to achieve consistently safe practices, continuous training on IPC in HCWs is necessitated.…”

Analysis of Health Workers’ Perceptions on Medical Waste Management in Tanzanian Hospitals

“…Assessing the working conditions for all HWs regarding MWM brings a challenge on their safety and performance (although not part of this study). Treatment of medical waste calls for technical skills and financial resource allocation, while the availability and use of PPE in hospitals forms a large part of HWs' perceptions and which require critical analysis [10]- [12].…”

Estimation of Different Categories of Healthcare Waste Generated at Two Different Hospital Categories in Four Hospitals in Dar es Salaam City

“…Sharps waste contains items that can cause cuts or puncture wounds to healthcare workers. Whether sharps are infected or not, are considered highly dangerous and potentially infectious waste, due to their puncture or cutting property [30]. Figure 4 shows the variation of the daily sharps waste incineration rate (in kg/day) recorded.…”