Waste Control of Medical Supplies in the Health Care Industry Research Paper

Waste Control of Medical Supplies in the Health Care Industry - Research Paper Example Various legal and clinical standards have been set forth in order to manage the disposal of hospital wastes. To some extent, these policies and standards have been relatively effective in managing hospital wastes. Improvements to these standards are still needed in order to ensure that hospital wastes are effectively managed and that risks to the general population in relation to such wastes are minimized. This paper shall discuss the current waste control of medical supplies in the health care industry. It shall also discuss the impact of ineffective waste management on hospitals and on disease management. It shall also consider the different possible improvements which can be made in the waste control and management of healthcare wastes. This paper is being conducted in the hope of establishing an academic and scholarly approach and answer to the topic on healthcare waste control. Discussion Most of the wastes from healthcare facilities can be considered regular solid municipal was te. However, some of these wastes need special attention – these are sharps (needles, razors, scalpels), pathological wastes, infectious wastes, pharmaceutical wastes, biological wastes, and hazardous chemical wastes (Johannessen, et.al., 2000). All in all, these wastes are referred to as special health care wastes. Wastes from isolation wards and microbiological laboratories also require special attention. The rest of the waste from healthcare facilities include packaging, reusable medical equipment, and secondary wastes created by disposal technologies (Johannessen, et.al., 2000). Inappropriate and inadequate management of these products exposes people and the environment to health risks. Various healthcare workers, patients, waste handlers, and the general public are exposed to various health risks from these infectious wastes (most especially, the sharps), chemicals, and other hospital wastes (Johannessen, et.al., 2000). And the exposure to these wastes is often seen with the improper handling by health workers. The WHO (1999) has successfully classified the different types of healthcare wastes and these include: communal waste and special wastes (infectious, anatomic, pharmaceutical, genotoxic, chemical, heavy metals, pressurized containers, and radioactive materials). Communal wastes are all solid wastes which are not infectious, chemical or radioactive. These can specifically include packaging materials and office supplies. These wastes can generally be disposed of in communal landfills or similar arrangements (WHO, 1999). Segregation and recycling applies to these wastes. Special wastes on the other hand are classified into various categories and are not in any way classified for communal landfills. Infectious wastes are wastes from humans or animals which can potentially transmit infectious diseases to humans (WHO, 1999). These wastes include those which are discarded from equipment during diagnosis, treatment, and prevention stage of the disea ses or the assessment of the patient during which contact with blood, tissues, saliva and other patient derivatives may have been seen. Such wastes include: cultures and stocks, tissues, dressings, swabs, items soaked in blood, syringe needles, scalpels, diapers, blood bags, and similar items (WHO, 1999). All sharps regardless of usage by infected patient or not, is considered under infectious wastes. Other