Appraisal of The Performance of Institution Based Health Workers On the Management of Health Care Waste in A Tertiary Facility, Southwest, Nigeria

Healthcare Waste (HCW) constitutes a special category of waste because they contain potentially harmful materials. In Nigeria, a major issue confronting the management of healthcare waste is perhaps the fact that it is generally viewed mainly from an environmental and less from a public health perspective. The problem of how to manage HCW has become one of critical concerns in developing countries; hence, the main objective of the study was to assess healthcare waste management (HCWM) practices of health workers in Abeokuta, Ogun State. This study was descriptive cross sectional in design and also a non-participatory observation method was employed. A total of 253 health workers in a tertiary healthcare institutions, including doctors and nurses were recruited in the study. Structured questionnaire and non-participatory observation were used to collect data to determine their knowledge and current practice with regards to HCWM. An evaluation of the status of the waste management practice in the health facility was carried out using the following criteria: waste management responsibility like segregation, collection, storage, waste transport; and final disposal. Findings revealed half of the respondents had good HCWM practice, however, majority of them were found to be highly knowledgeable as regards HCWM. Waste segregation was not adequately practiced and incineration was also not available in all the selected healthcare facilities, hence, this study highlighted the pitfalls of HCW management in Abeokuta, Ogun State, Nigeria; a developing country where resources are limited. The study concluded by recommending that Management should supply colour coded bags for proper segregation of healthcare waste, provides incinerator for disposal of healthcare waste and formulate policy to control the healthcare management.

Keywords: Healthcare Waste, Management, Knowledge, Practices, Health Workers,