Management of Health

Care/Dental Waste

DR.OKUMU
The Kenya we don’t want
The purpose of proper waste management is to:
 Protect people who handle waste items from
accidental injury
 Prevent the spread of infection to patients, clients,
and HCWs
Prevent the spread of infection to the local
community
 Safely dispose of hazardous materials (HAZMATs)
Waste from health care facilities can be:
Noninfectious: poses no infectious risk to
persons who handle it e.g. paper, trash, boxes,
bottles, and plastic containers
Infectious: potentially infectious or toxic if it is
not disposed of properly e.g. used
dressings,gloves,IV giving sets ,sharps.
Highly infectious. anatomical wastes
e.g.teeth,sputum,specimens
 Principles of Waste Management

General guide to waste management in a health care

setting:

• Develop a waste management plan that is based on

an assessment of the current situation and that
minimizes the amount of waste generated.

• Segregate clinical waste in dedicated colour-coded

containers with appropriate bin liners or labelled
containers.
Transport waste in a dedicated covered cart or
trolley. They should be cleaned regularly.
Transport different categories of waste separately.

Store waste in specified areas with restricted access

and marked with a biohazard symbol.

Collect and store sharps in sharps containers.

Steps in the management of health care waste
are as follows:
1. Generation
2. Segregation (separation)
3. Collection
4. Transportation
5. Storage
6. Treatment
7. Final disposal
 Waste segregation

Use appropriate colour-coded/labelled separate

containers/bin liners for noninfectious, infectious,
and highly infectious waste.
BLACK:noninfectious
YELLOW:infectious(except sharps)
RED:highly infectious
Fill the waste containers not more than three-
quarters full.

Never sort through contaminated wastes.

 Managing Sharps and Sharps Containers
Safely

• Dispose them off immediately after use in a designated

puncture- and leak-proof container /safety box.
• Put sharps containers as close to the point of use as
possible and practical, at a convenient height, and ideally
within arm's reach.
• Label sharps containers clearly with a biohazard symbol.
• Do not place containers in high-traffic areas, such as
corridors outside patient rooms or procedure rooms, where
people could bump into them
• Do not fill the sharps containers above the three
quarters- full mark.
• Do not shake a container to settle its contents and
make room for more sharps.
• Seal the container when it is three-quarters full and do
not reopen it.
• After it has been sealed, store the used sharps
containers in a secure area while it awaits transport for
final disposal.
Disposal
The method of choice for destruction of full safety
boxes is incineration, preferably in an
appropriate double-chamber incinerator.
Under exceptional circumstances, full safety boxes
may be incinerated in small numbers by
open burning.
The residues of incineration should be safely buried
at a depth greater than 1 meter.
 Dental Amalgam
Waste amalgam includes:
any unwanted amalgam,
old fillings,
teeth with fillings,
grindings,
surplus amalgam which cannot be reused
residues containing amalgam e.g. from separators
and packaging such as capsules containing such
residues.
Store amalgam waste in a covered plastic container
labeled “Amalgam for Recycling” or as directed by
your recycler.
Consider keeping different types (e.g., contact and
non-contact) of amalgam wastes in separate
containers.
The Kenya we want