MANAGEMENT OF HOSPITAL WASTE IN THE TAMALE TEACHING HOSPITAL

Abstract

In a typical Ghanaian hospital such as the Tamale Teaching Hospital (TTH), the effective management of solid waste is a growing challenge and concern due to its related potential effect on public health. To assess the management of hospital waste in the TTH, a cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted. TTH has a waste management team of 64 made up of 54 cleaners and 10 unit heads and all were included in the study. Data was collected with the help of a questionnaire and an on-site observational checklist. SPSS was utilized to analyze the data into descriptive and inferential statistics. The results revealed that 90.6% of the team segregated waste, 9.4% knew of a waste treatment system, 96.9% said they disposed at the landfill, knowledge on colour coded containers was less than 50% for cleaners and unit heads, 7.8% knew of waste policies and 42.2% aware of waste plans. To establish any association between unit heads knowledge on risk with infectious waste and that of the cleaners using Pearson chi square at a significance level of 0.05 revealed that cleaners knowledge on awareness of risk with infectious waste was not significant (χ2= 0.1222, p=0.727, n=54). Improper segregation, lack of yellow coded containers, absence of a treatment plant and open burning of waste were observed. The study concluded that waste was poorly managed in the hospital. Close supervision of waste activities, provision of yellow containers and training of the waste team on HCWM among others are recommended to ensure an effective waste system by Management.