Clinical Waste Management System in National Hospital of Sri Lanka: A Critical Analysis

Health care waste at the National Hospital of Sri Lanka (NHSL) consists of infectious, hazardous as well as non-hazardous waste generated at various places within the institution. Health care waste management function in the NHSL is outsourced to a private company. Waste Management needs due attention and if the procedure did not follow the safe methods definitely create a great problem to the patients, staff as well as the public and the environment. The segregation of waste at the selected units was satisfactory. All (100%) units had a sharp bin to separately collect needles and other sharp materials. They used color code in waste bins. Occupational safety measures take during handling waste were not satisfactory. None of them were found wearing protective gloves, masks or boots. Even though the wards practice segregation of waste according to the color code, the transportation of waste from wards to the disposal area was unhealthy and not up to the standards. This was mainly due to the carelessness of the staff, supervisors and the cleaning service workers. The knowledge on safe handling and transporting waste among waste handlers were not adequate thus they deserves for training on healthcare waste management.