The development of a centralized infectious waste management model Nakhonsawan Province

Abstract

This research is an Action Research to develop the patterns of centralized management of infectious waste in the District Health Service network of Nakhonsawan province with data on infectious waste management. And then, I can set development patterns, follow the patterns, and rate them. The data gathered in each stage are used in the analysis: qualitative data are used in content analysis, and quantitative data are used in descriptive statistics and the Paired Sample T-test.

This research found an average of 470,820.98 kilograms a year (1,289.92 kilograms a day) of infectious waste from hospitals under the Office of the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Public Health. Private companies removed waste on an average of 2,007.67 times a year. Infectious waste management of Tertiary Medical Centers/Community Medical Centers found an average of 2.2 environmental workers, 83.3% of them have degrees mismatched to the job according to the law. All the workers have passed the training program on infectious waste management, and 91.7% of the workers have had annual physical examinations. Infectious waste is sorted out of the general waste, and infectious waste is sorted into 3 types: Sharp objects, non-sharp objects, and blood. In terms of moving infectious waste, they use red containers and red bags with signs, and the bags entirely cover the containers. There are carts specifically for containing infectious waste, and they move the waste by placing the bags containing infectious waste on the carts. There is a certain route fixed for the carts, and the waste is moved to the infectious waste storage that is enough for 3-7 days of the waste gathering. There is a lawful sign, and the weight of the waste is recorded every time. All infectious waste is sent to a waste collecting companies to eliminate by a standardized private incinerator.