Biomedical waste management for health care industry

Abstract

Proper handling, treatment and disposal of biomedical waste play a vital role in hospital infection control programme. Objectives of BMW (Biomedical waste) management mainly involves preventing transmission of disease from patient to patient, from patient to health worker and vice versa, to prevent injury to the health care worker and workers in support services, while handling biomedical waste, to prevent general exposure to the harmful effects of the cytotoxic, genotoxic and chemical biomedical waste generated in hospitals. If properly designed and applied, waste management can be a relatively effective and an efficient compliance-related practice. This review article discusses about the collection, segregation, treatment and disposal of biomedical waste and its various types.