Effect of Training on Knowledge Regarding Bio Medical Waste Management among Sanitation Staff: An Intervention Study from a Tertiary Care Centre of Uttar Pradesh. -

Background: Health care services are important for our health but the huge amount of bio medical waste generated from it. Unregulated handling of biomedical waste is emerging as a serious threat to human health and safety. Even after a decade biomedical waste management in India is in primitive stage. Objectives: To assess the existing knowledge of biomedical waste management among sanitation staff and to find out the effectiveness of training regarding the knowledge of biomedical waste management among sanitation staff. Materials and Methods: The Present study was conducted among 100 sanitation staff working in UPRIMS & R, Saifai, Etawah (UP) from January to March 2014. Data collection tool consisted of a structured interview questionnaire to assess the knowledge of sanitation staff regarding biomedical waste management. After pre-intervention data collection the study participants were trained on bio medical waste management. Data were analyzed by using SPSS 16.0 and statistics mean, standard deviation, frequency and percentage of distribution were calculated. To study the effectiveness of the training t-test was applied. Results: Maximum of the study subjects were in the age group 31-40 years (46.0%), 71.0% male and maximum having educational qualification junior high school and below. Majority (48%) of the sanitation staff had poor knowledge, and only 6% had good knowledge regarding biomedical waste management. Sanitation staff had highest knowledge in the area of waste generation and prevention against biohazards and least in the area of waste handling and collection. After intervention, improvement was observed in knowledge of sanitation staff regarding all the areas of bio medical waste management. Conclusion: Regular training programs of sanitation staff on bio medical waste are very important and this should be done at regular interval.