Background: According to the Bio-Medical Waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 1998 of India, "bio-medical waste" refers to any waste, which is generated during the diagnosis, treatment or immunization of human-beings or animals, or in research activities pertaining thereto, or in the production or testing of biologicals. The success of a bio-medical waste management (BMWM) program depends upon the knowledge and practices of the sanitary staff. Objectives: 1. To assess knowledge and attitudes about BMWM among the sanitary staff of the tertiary care hospital. 2. To describe the practices of BMWM among sanitary staff. 3. To study the socio-demographic variables related to the practice of BMWM. Materials and Methods: This hospital-based cross sectional study was conducted among 236 sanitation staff who handled bio-medical waste. They were interviewed using pretested, structured proforma consisting of socio-demographic profiles of the study participants as also questions to assess their awareness, attitudes, and practices regarding BMWM. Data were analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 26.0. Essential statistical tests such as simple proportions and chi-square tests were applied. Results: Basic knowledge of bio-medical waste was possessed by 200 (84.7%) participants. The number of participants who had undergone training in BMWM before joining the institution was 229 (97.0%). Among the participants, 211 (89.4%) reported that bio-medical waste is hazardous. Out of the total number of participants, 234 (99.2%) reported that they wore protective gear. Knowledge of immunization was possessed by 173 (73.7%) sanitary staff members. Knowledge levels about color coding and segregation stood at over 90% among study respondents. Sanitary staff aged below 35 years had better knowledge regarding disposal of human anatomical and animal wastes (96.6%), disposal of soiled dressings (98.3%), and disposal of microbiological waste (93.3%). Among both the genders, women had better knowledge regarding waste-disposal in yellow bags. Staff educated up to the secondary level had better knowledge regarding disposal of human anatomical waste and animal waste (95.3%). Conclusion: Even though knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding BMWM were found to be generally satisfactory, BMWM practices among sanitary staff need further improvement. Therefore, regular training programs on BMWM and its hazards need to be offered to all sanitary staff. Further, periodic evaluation should of staff-preparedness for BMWM should be carried out.
Ade et al. (Wed,) studied this question.