Analysis of cognizance and practices of biomedical waste management principle rules among health professional workers in a teaching hospital with special emphasis on COVID-19 pandemic: A critical appraisal on the current state and way forward

BACKGROUND: Hospital-generated waste materials commonly labeled as “Biomedical waste” (BMW) is a kind of remnant that includes infectious and non-infectious materials and their appropriate disposals are controlled as per the guidelines of Biomedical Waste Management (BMWM) Amendment Rules, 2018, Government of India. Periodic assessment on BMWM among healthcare workers (HCWs) is mandated to ensure quality assurance, which may be helpful during pandemic times. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study was conducted with ethical clearance by using a validated questionnaire (using Cronbach's α) covering knowledge, attitude, and practices (KAP) derived based on recent BMWM 2018 guidelines. The responses in context to KAP were checked by the study conductors, appropriate statistical analysis was done and discussed at end of each session. RESULTS: Nearly 279 HCWs participated in the study and cast their responses. Knowledge and attitude domain on BMWM showed statistical significance whereas varied responses were observed with practices among the health professional workers with health professional physicians having an edge over other HCWs involved in the processes with varying attrition factors. CONCLUSIONS: The present study proves novelty by extensively analyzing KAP among HCWs on BMWM in general with special emphasis on laboratory biosafety norms. The study emphasizes that BMWM should be a continuous process and that all HCWs handling BMW must undergo regular training and assessment with questionnaire surveys. Multi-tasking and cumulative efforts must be formulated to attain translational synergy in the stream of KAP of BMWM, which could be attained by incorporating BMWM in the health science curriculum.