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Introduction: Biomedical waste (BMW) management includes segregation, storage, transportation, treatment & disposal of BMW to reduce hazards to HCWs (healthcare workers), community or environment. It is critical that HCWs know the hazards of biomedical waste and make its disposal appropriate. BMW Management is done by Government of India as per 'Bio -Medical Waste Management Rules' 2016. Lack of awareness and inadequate knowledge about BMW management leads to serious health consequences for humans, animals and has an huge negative impact on the environment. Aims & Objectives: To assess & compare knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) regarding BMW management among HCWs. Material & Methods: A Cross sectional study will be conducted at a tertiary care hospital among Laboratory HCWs. A structured questionnaire based on knowledge & attitude regarding BMW management was given to Laboratory HCWs and data was analysed. To assess the practice of BMW management, BMW audit was conducted at four different BMW segregation sites (Central Laboratory, Sample collection Centre, Microbiology Laboratory, Pathology Laboratory). Results: In this study, when Knowledge of HCWs towards BMW was assessed, it was found upto 93% inFaculty, 85% in Residents & 42% in Lab Technician and Attendants.Whereas, Attitude of HCWs towards BMW management was upto 97% in Faculty, 90% in Residents & 79% in Lab Technician and 71% in Attendants.Practice of HCWs regarding BMW management upto 88% in Central laboratory, 82% in Sample Collection Centre and 64% in Microbiology & 62% in Pathology Laboratory.Conclusion: It is important to convert Knowledge & Attitude into Practice for better BMW management.Knowledge & Attitude was better among Faculties & Residents as they had previous BMW Training while that was not the case for Lab Technician & Attendants.Henceforth, appropriate training programs should be designed for HCWs on BMW management.
Contractor et al. (Wed,) studied this question.