Awareness of bio-medical waste management among different cadres of dental healthcare workers: An Institution Based Study.

Introduction Waste generated from hospitals is bio hazardous, highly infectious & toxic. Indiscriminate disposal of hospital waste possesses health risk to human & animal population because of the high potential of disease transmission through unregulated waste pose a dangerous threat not only to human health safety but also to environment for current & future generations, so it is of utmost importance to handle biomedical waste in environmentally sound manner. The aim of this study was to assess the knowledge, practices & attitude of biomedical waste management in dental health care workers so that regular training programs may be provided for proper handling of biomedical waste generated in dental health Institution. Material &Methods This cross-sectional study was conducted amongst dental health care workers (DHCWs) on volunteer basis. Study was conducted in 70 volunteers including doctors, paramedical/nursing staff, junior residents, post graduate and undergraduate students. Survey was conducted using a predesigned questionnaire about the basic knowledge, segregation of waste at source, color coding & injury reporting. The hard copy of the questionnaires were collected and the correct answers were tabulated on the excel sheet and sent for statistical analysis. Results ANOVA and unpaired t-test were done. Percentage wise data was derived. Doctors had highest knowledge about the biomedical waste management followed by paramedical staff/nurses, junior residents, post graduate and undergraduate students. The knowledge about needle stick injury was found to be less in all the cadres. Conclusion The knowledge about the biomedical waste management was found more in faculty/Doctors followed by paramedics/nursing staff and post graduate and undergraduate students. The importance of biomedical waste management training needs to be imparted at all levels amongst dental care providers, because lack of knowledge impacts the practices of appropriate waste disposal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]