Analysis of Hospital Staff Exposure Risks and Awareness about Poor Medical Waste Management - A Case study of the Tabuk Regional Healthcare System - Saudi Arabia

Aims: The objective of the current study is to seek ways to improve the present situation on occupational risks and awareness about poor medical waste management. It introduces analysis which measures the awareness of hospital staff and knowledge of medical waste processing awareness of existing management methods, health and environmental impacts, realizing policies and concerns of the public about the existing medical waste management processes. Methods: This study utilizes both face- to- face interview and self- administered questionnaires regarding staff age, years in service, infectious exposure accidents, and knowledge of the concept of medical waste and associated health and environmental impacts of poor medical waste management. Sixty two Healthcare Facilities (HCFs), including 15 large size HCFs (hospitals), and 47 medium to small size HCFs (medical laboratories and healthcare medical centers), are investigated. Herein, statistical multivariate procedures namely factor analysis and multiple regressions procedures are conducted using SPSS v.18.0 computer software. Results: Results indicate that the strongest exposure risk factor to sharp and needle stick injuries exists for Health care personnel (HCP) who are over 45 years old. Another significantly related factor is spending 3 years or less in service. Also, results on awareness and basic knowledge indicate that about 21% of hospital staff interviewed had a fair knowledge of the concept of medical waste, and about 58% are aware of the associated health and environmental impacts. A further 26.7% and 15.1% are either unaware or uncertain of the associated health risks and exposure risks of poor medical waste management. However, 42.7% of the respondents are unaware of any policy of any type related to the issue of medical waste while 62.1% had never attended any training course or workshops during their service. The results further reveal that 32% of the personnel interviewed had never received any biomedical waste management training from their healthcare managers concerning infectious accidents resulted from sharp and needle stick injuries (SHNSI). Conclusion: There is a great need to develop and adopt a comprehensive healthcare management strategy which includes three keys to success, namely: multi- sectorial cooperation, policy and legal framework, rigorous program for personnel training and raising awareness. Training programs for bodies of HCFs would help in simplifying all delivered guidelines on medical waste management. Such measures would lead to better treatment and controlling the process of monitoring made by administration officers. Recently, Saudi Arabia has implemented many exhaustive training and awareness- raising programs on the safe and proper management of medical wastes.