Authors: Misha Katyal, Nidhi Pathak
Introduction: Inappropriate handling of biomedical waste carries a higher potential for infection and injury than any other type of waste. Its effective management is a social as well as legal responsibility. Materials and Methods: To assess the knowledge and practice regarding biomedical waste management among the OT personnel in a tertiary care hospital based in New Delhi, an audit was conducted using a questionnaire with 230 participants who are largely responsible for segregation of biomedical waste generated at point source in the operation theatre. It included 11, 42, and 72, third year, second year and 1st year anaesthesia post graduate students respectively, 53 anaesthesia senior residents, 24 nursing staff and 28 OT technicians. Results: Although 85.2% of the subjects got formal training for proper biomedical waste disposal, the knowledge among them was found unsatisfactory. More than 40% of the participants in each group barring OT technicians didn’t know proper segregation of waste. Conclusion: The audit showed poor knowledge of proper biomedical waste disposal among OT personnel in a tertiary care hospital in New Delhi. There is a need of strict supervision and implementation of the recommended guidelines to ensure a safe environment. Keywords: Biomedical waste management, Awareness, OT personnel.
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