Abstract

The proper handling and disposal of Bio-medical waste (BMW) is very imperative. There are well defined set of rules for handling BMW worldwide. In this descriptive observational cross-sectional study, 78 sanitary staff handling BMW participated. Maximum number of study participants (29.48%) belonged to age group of 41- 45 years. 65.38% BMW handling workers were addicted to tobacco either in the form of smoking/chewing/ misery/gutkha chewing while 34.61% male workers were alcoholic. 60.25% staff suffered needle stick injuries (NSI) and 19.23% staff were injured while handling sharp objects. It was observed that one worker was HIV positive and has given history of needle stick injury while one worker was found to be Hepatitis B positive. 65.38% study participants had complains of lower backache while 34.61% workers were emotionally disturbed and they were not satisfied with their job. After training the use of Personal Protective Equipments (PPE) like gloves, mask and goggles improved to 93.59%, 83.33% and 12.82% respectively. Training also was fruitful where the participants got themselves vaccinated 100% and 79.48% for Tetanus and Hepatitis B respectively

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