Das Eshwar, Shaikh Shiraz, Kumar Dileep
Eshwar Das, MSPH. Lecturer, College of Nursing NICH, Karachi, Pakistan.
Dr. Shiraz Shaikh, FCPS. Associate Professor, APPNA Institute of Public Health, Jinnah Sindh Medical University, Karachi, Pakistan.
Pak J Med Sci. 2024 Aug;40(7):1539-1544. doi: 10.12669/pjms.40.7.9113.
BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVES: Hospital waste handlers (HWHs) are in contact with contaminated waste that put them at risk for occupational health hazards. The objective of the study was to determine the frequency of occupational health hazards and identify factors contributing to them among the HWHs at tertiary care hospitals of Karachi.
A cross sectional survey was conducted from January 2021 till June 2022 on 417 conveniently selected HWHs of the public and private tertiary care hospitals of the Karachi including three Public sector hospitals (Civil Hospital Karachi, National Institute of Child Health, Jinnah Post Graduate Medical Center) and five private sector hospitals (Sohail University Hospital, Darulsehat Hospital, Kharadar General Hospital, Patel Hospital and Hamdard University Hospital) using a structured questionnaire. Chi Square test was applied to determine the differences in occurrence of different hazardous outcomes (Needle stick injury, Sharp Injury, Eye Symptoms, Skin symptoms, Cough) between different groups of age, gender, type of hospitals and status of being trained in Hospital Waste Management (HWM).
Around half of the HWHs (52.6%) labeled the bins of the waste according to their level of hazard. Only 17.9% disinfected the infected waste. The proportion of participants who experienced needle stick and sharp injury in the last six months was 16.3% and 15.8% respectively. Majority of them used disposable gloves (95.7%) and face masks (94.3%). One thirds had access to aprons while only 10.5% had access to protective shoes at their work place. HWHs of private sector were significantly less likely to experience Needle stick injuries, skin symptoms, cough, breathing difficulty and throat burning.
The HWM practices in tertiary care hospitals of Karachi is far from being satisfactory. HWHs must be trained and monitored for safe disposal of waste.
医院废物处理人员（HWHs）接触受污染的废物，这使他们面临职业健康危害风险。本研究的目的是确定卡拉奇三级医院HWHs职业健康危害的发生频率，并识别导致这些危害的因素。
2021年1月至2022年6月，对卡拉奇公立和私立三级医院417名方便选取的HWHs进行横断面调查，这些医院包括三家公立医院（卡拉奇市民医院、国家儿童健康研究所、真纳研究生医学中心）和五家私立医院（苏海尔大学医院、达鲁塞哈特医院、卡拉达拉综合医院、帕特尔医院和哈姆达德大学医院），使用结构化问卷。应用卡方检验来确定不同年龄、性别、医院类型和医院废物管理（HWM）培训状况组之间不同危险结果（针刺伤、锐器伤、眼部症状、皮肤症状、咳嗽）发生情况的差异。
约一半的HWHs（52.6%）根据废物的危害程度对垃圾桶进行了标记。只有17.9%的人对感染性废物进行了消毒。在过去六个月中经历针刺伤和锐器伤的参与者比例分别为16.3%和15.8%。他们中的大多数人使用一次性手套（95.7%）和口罩（94.3%）。三分之一的人在工作场所可以使用围裙，而只有10.5%的人可以使用防护鞋。私立部门的HWHs发生针刺伤、皮肤症状、咳嗽、呼吸困难和喉咙灼痛的可能性明显较低。
卡拉奇三级医院的HWM做法远不能令人满意。必须对HWHs进行培训和监督，以确保废物的安全处理。
