Evaluation of HospitalWaste Management and Its Categorization in Valiasr Hospital, Mamasani Nurabad City, Fars

The evaluation of both qualitative and quantitative factors regarding biomedical waste can help remedy the shortcomings of thecurrent hospital wastemanagement(HWM)system. The present study used a questionnaire anda weighing operation to investigatethe perceived quality of HWM and the quantity of biomedical waste in Valiasr hospital, Nurabad district, Mamasani county, Iran,from July to September ۲۰۱۳. For ۲۱ days, at the end of each shift, all hospital waste was weighed using scales. In addition, a ۲۱-itemquestionnaire concerning perceptions of the quality of waste division, collection, storage, and transportation was administered to۴۰ hospital employees. The results of the weighing operation revealed that the hospital generated ۴۱۷.۹۹ kg of waste per bed per day(kg/bed-day). Considering that there are ۹۶ beds actively used in the hospital, the average kg/bed-day of waste generated was ۲.۳۲kg/bed-day of infectious waste, ۰.۰۳ kg/bed-day of sharps, and ۲ kg/bed-day of household waste. The highest amount of infectiouswaste was generated in the emergency unit and the second highest in the operating rooms. In addition, analysis of questionnaireresponses showed that most participants classifiedHWMactivities as good, including waste division (۶۵%), collection and transportto temporary waste storage (۷۷.۵%), and transport to the disposal zone (۸۰%). Improper division of wastes by employees and visitorsincreased the volume of waste identified as infectious by mistakenly adding non-infectious waste to the bags of infectious waste. Toreduce the volume of waste identified as infectious, division of wastesmustbe properly implementedandscrupulously maintained.