Assessment of healthcare solid waste management practices for environmental performance: a study of hospitals in Himachal Pradesh, India

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Vikas Thakur ◽  
Somesh Sharma
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Quality ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Solid Waste Management ◽  
Healthcare Services ◽  
Himachal Pradesh ◽  
Statistical Testing ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Healthcare Waste ◽  
Waste Management Practices

PurposeThe day-by-day escalating quantity of healthcare waste (HCW), has made waste handling and management a challenging issue for ensuring environmental quality. Developing nations like India face huge difficulties in handling healthcare solid wastes (HCSW) because of the extra population burden. Hence, the present study seeks to evaluate the role of various stakeholders, under the following four performance areas: “collection and segregation of HCSW,” “storage and transportation of HCSW,” “special measures for handling HCSW” and ‘awareness among the various stakeholders of handling and managing the HCSW.”Design/methodology/approachThe study targets the primary data from 323 stakeholders across 35 hospitals in Himachal Pradesh, India, to assess the environmental awareness level among various stakeholders. Data were analyzed using preliminary descriptive statistics, and further statistical testing was done using one-way ANOVA in SPSS version 20.0.FindingsResults highlight that most hospitals lack the following areas: segregation of HCSW, marking of zones and bags carrying infectious HCSWs, inadequate transportation facilities, bad handling and storage practices and recycling without chemical disinfection.Practical implicationsThe study's findings will help the hospitals' administration and State Pollution Control Board to design training programs for all the stakeholders involved in managing HCSW. The proper recycling of the HCSW will reduce the adverse environmental impact and ensure the environmental quality within the hospitals and surroundings. The preparation of appropriate policy for the collection, storage and transportation of HCSW from the hospitals to the treatment centers will ensure the cleaner delivery of healthcare services to society.Originality/valueThe present study is the first of its kind, where the primary data were collected from the various stakeholders involved in the handling of HCSW at various healthcare establishments (HCEs) in Himachal Pradesh, India.

Industrial and Household Solid Waste Management Practices and their Relationship to Public Health

2012 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alvin V. Nuqui ◽  
Reynaldo C. Cruz
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Waste Management ◽  
Solid Waste ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Solid Waste Management ◽  
Industrial Wastes ◽  
Household Waste ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
Household Solid Waste ◽  
Waste Management Practices

Essentially, the industrial and household solid waste management practices in Calumpit, the types, origin, and volume of wastes and the effects of the solid waste management practices to public health were assessed to develop a solid waste management plan for the local government unit of Calumpit. This study made use of descriptive survey of research that utilized locally constructed questionnaire as primary data gathering tool, substantiated by extensive documentary analysis. Solid waste management practices of households in Calumpit were partially implemented in terms of recycling, re-use, reduce, and prevention. Burning of wastes practices in the household level and partial implementation of composting was deduced from the study. Composting practices were not practiced among industries in Calumpit. Most of the household solid wastes were biodegradable, followed by recyclable, residual, and special wastes. Majority of industrial wastes were in the form of metals, textiles, and fiber glasses. Mortality and morbidity rates showed death rates and disease incidences that are caused by a deficiency in the functioning of the cardiopulmonary system. These incidences are associated to their waste management practices. Hence, backyard composting, vermiculture activities, and provision of intensive information and education campaigns involving the children are necessary. Keywords - Ecology, Industrial waste, household waste, Waste management practices, Public health, Mortality, Morbidity, Calumpit, Bulacan, Philippines

Waste management in primary healthcare centres of Iran

2009 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 354-361 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alireza Mesdaghinia ◽  
Kazem Naddafi ◽  
Amir Hossein Mahvi ◽  
Reza Saeedi
Keyword(s):  
Waste Management ◽  
Solid Waste ◽  
Primary Healthcare ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Waste Treatment ◽  
Field Investigation ◽  
Waste Materials ◽  
Cluster Sampling ◽  
Healthcare Waste ◽  
Waste Management Practices

The waste management practices in primary healthcare centres of Iran were investigated in the present study. A total of 120 primary healthcare centres located across the country were selected using the cluster sampling method and the current situation of healthcare waste management was determined through field investigation. The quantities of solid waste and wastewater generation per outpatient were found to be 60 g outpatient—1 day—1 and 26 L outpatient—1 day— 1, respectively. In all of the facilities, sharp objects were separated almost completely, but separation of other types of hazardous healthcare solid waste was only done in 25% of the centres. The separated hazardous solid waste materials were treated by incineration, temporary incineration and open burning methods in 32.5, 8.3 and 42.5% of the healthcare centres, respectively. In 16.7% of the centres the hazardous solid wastes were disposed of without any treatment. These results indicate that the management of waste materials in primary healthcare centres in Iran faced some problems. Staff training and awareness, separation of healthcare solid waste, establishment of the autoclave method for healthcare solid waste treatment and construction of septic tanks and disinfection units in the centres that were without access to a sewer system are the major measures that are suggested for improvement of the waste management practices.

Convergence of management practices in India’s IT sector with ana priorivalidation

2018 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 402-421
Author(s):  
Jayashree Mahesh ◽  
Anil K. Bhat
Keyword(s):  
Cluster Analysis ◽  
Operations Management ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
A Priori ◽  
Statistical Testing ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Empirical Survey ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Group A

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to document similarities and differences between management practices of different types of organizations in India’s IT sector through an empirical survey. The authors expected these differences to be significant enough for us to be able to groupa priorithis set of companies meaningfully through cluster analysis on the basis of the similarity of their management practices alone.Design/methodology/approachUsing a mixed-methods approach, 73 senior-level executives of companies working in India’s IT sector were approached with a pretested questionnaire to find out differences on eighteen management practices in the areas of operations management, monitoring management, targets management and talent management. The different types of organizations surveyed were small and amp; medium global multinationals, large global multinationals, small and medium Indian multinationals, large Indian multinationals and small and medium local Indian companies. The differences and similarities found through statistical testing were further validateda priorithrough cluster analysis and qualitative interviews with senior-level executives.FindingsThe management practices of multinationals in India are moving toward Western management practices, indicating that management practices converge as the organizations grow in size. Though the practices of large Indian multinationals were not significantly different from those of global multinationals, the surprising finding was that large Indian multinationals scored better than global multinationals on a few practices. The practices of small and medium Indian companies differed significantly from those of other types of organizations and hence they formed a cluster.Practical implicationsThe finding that large Indian IT multinationals have an edge over global multinationals in certain people management practices is a confirmation of the role of human resource practices in their current success and their continuing competitive advantage.Originality/valueThis is perhaps the first study of its kind to document state of specific management practices across different types of organizations in India’s IT sector and then use measures on these practices to group a priori these organizations for validation.

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