Study Session 12 Institutional Sanitation and Waste Management

Transcription

1 Study Session 12 Institutiona Sanitation and Waste Management Copyright 2016 The Open University

2 Contents Introduction 3 Learning Outcomes for Study Session Sanitation and waste management in schoos Provision of improved atrines Handwashing faciities Menstrua hygiene management Provision of soid waste management faciities Sanitation and waste management in heath institutions Sanitation Managing soid heathcare waste Disposa of heathcare waste Sanitation and waste management in other institutions Prisons Reigious institutions Pubic offices Panning for improvements Reguar inspection and monitoring of faciities 15 Summary of Study Session Sef-Assessment Questions (SAQs) for Study Session of 18 Wednesday 30 March 2016

3 Introduction Introduction In this session you wi earn about sanitation and waste management in institutions and its importance to pubic heath. The scope of this session wi be imited to schoos, heath institutions, prisons, pubic offices and reigious institutions. We wi consider the essentia sanitation and waste management requirements for these institutions and enabe you to reate this into your own ocaity. However, there are other pubic service provider institutions such as shopping centres, mi houses, saughterhouses and market areas that may aso need to be considered. Learning Outcomes for Study Session 12 When you have studied this session, you shoud be abe to: 12.1 Define and use correcty each of the terms printed in bod. (SAQs 12.1 and 12.3) 12.2 Identify the minimum requirements for schoo sanitation and waste management. (SAQs 12.1 and 12.2) 12.3 Identify the major hazardous waste components and management options for heathcare waste. (SAQ 12.3) 12.4 Describe the activities needed for panning improvements in sanitation and waste management in oca institutions. (SAQ 12.4) 12.1 Sanitation and waste management in schoos In Study Session 2, you earned about the effects of poor sanitation and waste management. List some of the potentia impacts on schoos. The possibe answers incude heath probems, impacts on attendance (especiay for girs) and achievement, and poution of the schoo environment. Poor schoo sanitation and waste management create many probems: Many schoo chidren, teachers and schoo administration staff are exposed to increased heath risks. The chidren s abiity to earn may be affected by heminth infections which impair their physica and cognitive deveopment. Diarrhoea diseases and heminth infections force many schoo chidren to be absent from schoo. Girs are ikey to be affected by ack of adequate faciities for menstrua hygiene which can contribute to them missing days at schoo or even to drop out. If schoo atrines are not accessibe to girs and boys with disabiities, they may not eat or drink a day to avoid needing the atrine. Conversey good sanitation and waste management in schoos means that: 3 of 18 Wednesday 30 March 2016

4 12.1 Sanitation and waste management in schoos The chidren are more abe to integrate hygiene promotion into their daiy ives and can be effective messengers and agents for change in their famiies and the wider community. The proper behaviours that chidren earn at schoo are skis that they are ikey to maintain as aduts and pass on to their own chidren. You have been a schoo student at some time in the past. What were the components of schoo heath services in your time? You might have various memories of events. Your cassroom teacher might have checked your persona hygiene. You might have earned about the common bacteria eye infection trachoma and face-washing in science cass. You were probaby reminded to use the atrine propery and to wash your hands afterwards. In Ethiopia, many schoos do not have water suppy or atrines at a, or if they do, they may not have handwashing faciities. Even in schoos that do have faciities, these are frequenty not maintained or kept cean, or may be kept ocked. To give guidance on how to improve this situation, a design manua has been pubished jointy by the Ministry of Heath, Ministry of Education and Ministry of Water and Energy in coaboration with UNICEF (MoH et a, 2012). The manua gives recommendations for safe water suppy in schoos and the voume of water that shoud be avaiabe per person per day. It aso estabishes the principes for sanitation and hygiene provision in schoos, which are outined in the foowing sections Provision of improved atrines The provision of improved atrines with attached urinas in schoos is extremey important. Many of the design requirements are simiar to those for domestic atrines that you earned about in Study Session 5. For exampe, atrines must be ocated a safe distance from water sources. The government guidance for schoos incudes the foowing additiona requirements: There shoud be separate atrine bocks for boys and girs that are ocated away from each other in the schoo compound. They shoud be near enough to the cassrooms to be convenient for use but not so cose that odour is a probem. The ocation, design and construction must provide privacy and security. Hedges can be used as screens between girs and boys atrine bocks. Latrines for mae and femae teachers must be separated as we. Latrines must be easy to cean, we maintained and agreeabe to use. The number of squat hoes (cubices) shoud be proportiona to the number of students and take account of any future increase in schoo popuation. The recommended ratio is at east one cubice per 100 students. A schoos, regardess of size, shoud have a minimum of two cubices for girs and two for boys. Using appropriatey designed urinas for boys and men can reduce the tota number of cubices required. Faciities shoud be designed to be appropriate for the size of chidren in the schoo. For exampe, for young chidren door handes and wash basins need to be ower. Each atrine bock shoud have one cubice that is accessibe to students with disabiities incuding those who use a wheechair (Figure 12.1). This shoud have additiona space inside, handrais, a raised seat and an access ramp. 4 of 18 Wednesday 30 March 2016

5 12.1 Sanitation and waste management in schoos Handwashing faciities must be provided for boys and girs. Figure 12.1 Latrine with handrais and raised position to support disabed students. In Study Session 5, you earned of the different types of atrine technoogies. Which of them do you think coud be used in schoos? Schoos coud use improved pit atrines or VIP atrines (with ined pit, concrete sab and vent pipe). They coud use composting toiets or urine-diverting toiets if they had the necessary equipment, staff and procedures in pace. Pour-fush atrines or cistern-fush toiets are aso possibe if there was access to water and connection to a septic tank or sewer Handwashing faciities Handwashing faciities need to be constructed very cose to a atrines and urina bocks for use by students and teachers. The minimum requirement is a basin, a way to pour or run water over the hands, and soap. In urban Ethiopia, there are many modes for handwashing stations: water taps with basins or troughs (Figure 12.2); buckets of water; and tippy taps (Figure 12.3). Remember that soap shoud aways be avaiabe. The greywater that resuts from the handwashing must be drained to a soakaway pit or septic tank (or sewer, if avaiabe). If there is enough space, it is possibe to use greywater in a schoo garden to irrigate the vegetabes. 5 of 18 Wednesday 30 March 2016

6 12.1 Sanitation and waste management in schoos Figure 12.2 New schoo atrine bock with handwashing faciities. 6 of 18 Wednesday 30 March 2016

7 12.1 Sanitation and waste management in schoos Figure 12.3 Tippy taps are easiy and cheapy made from an od pastic container and the pastic tube from a used pen Menstrua hygiene management Menstrua hygiene management (MHM) is the management of monthy menstrua periods by women and adoescent girs using a cean materia to absorb or coect menstrua bood. It is essentia that this materia can be changed in privacy and as often as necessary for the duration of the menstrua period. MHM incudes using soap and water for washing the body as required and having access to faciities to dispose of or wash used menstrua pads and towes. In Ethiopia, as in many parts of the deveoping word, MHM is one of the critica chaenges facing adoescent schoogirs. Poor faciities for MHM in most schoos of Ethiopia has been shown to cause worry and humiiation, contribute to monthy absenteeism and ead to poor performance (Sommer et a, 2013). The foowing faciities shoud be provided for adequate MHM provision in schoos: girs atrines shoud be in a separate ocation from boys atrines individua cubices shoud be fitted with doors that cose propery disposa faciities shoud be avaiabe for used disposabe MHM products and washing faciities for reusabe products handwashing faciities and soap shoud be provided adjacent to the atrines 7 of 18 Wednesday 30 March 2016

8 12.2 Sanitation and waste management in heath institutions schoo offices shoud have MHM products avaiabe for emergency use Provision of soid waste management faciities Schoos shoud practise the 3 Rs of waste management. Since a arge proportion of schoos waste is paper, it may be possibe to coect the paper for recycing by the paper industries. Ideay, each cassroom shoud have separate bins for the waste that is coected for recycing and for the non-recycabe waste. Chidren shoud be encouraged to keep the cassrooms and other areas cean and take pride in a cean and hygienic schoo environment. There shoud aso be bins in teachers rooms and the payground. It is hepfu to encourage a cuture in schoos that makes dropping itter unacceptabe and heps chidren to deveop the habit of putting waste in a bin. If the schoo has its own waste disposa pit, this shoud be in an isoated area and fenced off to prevent access by the chidren. The waste shoud be covered with soi after pacing it in the pit to reduce scavenging by rodents and birds. There coud aso be chemica wastes from schoo aboratories. These shoud be stored separatey in a secure ocation for coection and disposa (the kebee authority or possiby a oca hospita may be abe to coect this waste) Sanitation and waste management in heath institutions Heath institutions incude pubic and private hospitas, heath centres, heath posts and specia cinics. A these institutions have responsibiities to ensure the safety of patients and staff which means provision of sanitation faciities and proper management of heathcare waste. Simiar to the guideines for schoos, a design and construction manua for water suppy and sanitation faciities in heath institutions has been pubished by the government (MoH et a, 2013). This provides fu detais of the recommended provision according to the type of institution and the number of peope who visit or work there; it aso incudes recommendations for soid waste management Sanitation Latrines and urinas shoud be avaiabe in each heath institution with separate and ceary signed faciities for men and women. Latrines shoud be cean, comfortabe and peasant to use. They shoud aso be accessibe to disabed peope. Handwashing faciities need to be constructed cose to a atrines and urina bocks for use by patients and staff. Additiona handwashing faciities shoud be provided in any pace where patients are ikey to be examined so that staff can wash their hands before and after the examination. 8 of 18 Wednesday 30 March 2016

9 12.2 Sanitation and waste management in heath institutions Managing soid heathcare waste In Study Session 7 you earned about the cassification of soid waste. What are the types of waste that can be generated in heath institutions? Heathcare waste incudes hazardous waste (approximatey10-25%) and nonhazardous wastes (75 90%) which is simiar in composition to commercia and residentia waste. The major concern in heath institutions is proper management of hazardous wastes which incude sharps (needes, etc.), pathoogica or anatomica waste (pacentas, body parts, bood or body fuids), used gauze, bandages, goves and pasters. It may aso contain expired drugs, aboratory reagents and other chemicas. Some of the key points in managing heathcare waste before fina disposa are: Heathcare workers shoud try to reduce the amount of waste but reducing (or reusing) waste shoud never be carried out if it compromises patient care or creates any other risk of infection. Hazardous and non-hazardous waste must be separated and stored separatey. Waste shoud be separated immediatey by the person generating it. The different wastes shoud be paced in containers with the appropriate coour for that particuar type of waste (FMHACA, 2013). The container for each waste type is: Back bins for a non-hazardous waste such as paper, packaging materias, office suppies, drink containers, hand towes, boxes, pastic bottes and food wastes. Yeow bins for infectious waste, which incudes any materia that has been in contact with bood or body fuids such as gauze, dressings and goves. Red bins for highy infectious wastes such as anatomica wastes (e.g. teeth, pacenta) and pathoogica wastes (e.g. sputum-containing materias, test tubes containing specimen fuids). A safety box (Figure 12.4) for sharps wastes that have the potentia to cause injuries and spread disease, such as needes, scapes, syringes, bades, and broken gass. Waste disposa faciities such as an incinerator and buria pits must be avaiabe, appropriate for the type of waste and heath services provided. (Disposa is described further in the next section.) Water suppy and handwashing faciities are very important for good persona hygiene practice among heath workers and patients. In addition, a staff who hande or come in contact with the waste shoud be provided with appropriate protective cothing incuding goves, aprons and face masks. 9 of 18 Wednesday 30 March 2016

10 12.2 Sanitation and waste management in heath institutions Figure 12.4 Safety box for coecting needes and other sharps Disposa of heathcare waste In arge cities, it may be possibe for heathcare waste to be coected and taken for disposa off-site by a icensed disposa firm. However, in smaer towns and cities each heathcare faciity wi probaby have to dispose of its own waste. The two main methods are buria or incineration (described in Study Session 10). A number of separate pits wi be needed for the different types of hazardous heathcare waste. For anatomica and pathoogica wastes, a pacenta pit shoud be used. These shoud be sited inside the heath faciity compound and be at east 1 m deep. The pit shoud be fenced and have a ocked gate. The waste shoud be coected in a pastic or gavanised meta container with a tight-fitting cover and immediatey transported to the pit using dedicated troeys or carts. The waste shoud be covered with a ayer of soi immediatey after disposa into the pit. Care needs to be taken over the disposa of anatomica waste that consists of identifiabe body parts. Buria is the best way of disposing of these wastes, but oca customs and cutures of the society must be taken into account. Sharps and the remains of incinerated sharps safety boxes shoud be disposed of in a sharps pit. A propery constructed sharps pit shoud have a cover at the surface and be 10 of 18 Wednesday 30 March 2016

11 12.3 Sanitation and waste management in other institutions ined with concrete to make it watertight in order to avoid contamination of groundwater and soi. Incinerators can be used to treat some hazardous heathcare wastes. If the incineration process takes pace at a sufficienty high temperature, it can be an effective way of destroying pathogens and steriising sharps, but shoud not be used for anatomica wastes for which a purpose-designed incinerator shoud be used. However, you shoud note that incinerators are ony ikey to be avaiabe in the arger heath faciities in major cities and towns. The ash removed from an incinerator shoud be buried in an ash pit. A buria pits for hazardous waste shoud be propery fenced to prevent access by peope or animas. The bottom of the pit must be at east 1.5 m above the water tabe to prevent groundwater contamination Sanitation and waste management in other institutions Other types of institution you may come across are prisons, reigious institutions and pubic or government offices Prisons Effective sanitation and waste management are aso important in prisons, jais, and temporary arrest faciities. The transmission of communicabe diseases such as diarrhoea, reapsing fever, scabies and typhus is made more ikey by overcrowding and poor sanitation and hygiene. Access to safe water, showers, atrines and faciities for washing cothes are essentia in a prison. There shoud aso be appropriate soid waste disposa faciities. In addition, conditions in prisons can be improved by the foowing interventions: A sanitation committee can organise a reguar ceaning schedue with the guidance of the prison authorities. Its duty is to pan and execute a ceaning and hygiene day at east once a week. Ceaning interior rooms and the prison compound, washing cothes and persona hygiene are among the priorities to maintain the heath of detainees. Checking for the presence communicabe diseases through reguar prison inspection. An insanitary interior of the prison is attractive for insects such as cockroaches, feas, ice and bedbugs. New prisoners cothing and bodies must be inspected for the presence of these insects when they arrive. High standards of persona hygiene through frequent body washing, maintenance of cean premises and cean cothes shoud be enforced. The rooms for detention shoud have an adequate suppy of indoor ight and fresh air. The surface area of windows shoud be a minimum of 10% of the foor area in order to admit dayight and adequate air. 11 of 18 Wednesday 30 March 2016

12 12.4 Panning for improvements Overcrowding must be controed as much as possibe because many peope iving in cose proximity with each other in unhygienic conditions eads to the transmission of many communicabe diseases. Periodica hygiene education on seected reevant topics Reigious institutions Churches and mosques areas are paces where a ot of peope gather. Both church servants and those attending need to have access to good environmenta heath services. The provision of a safe water suppy and atrines with handwashing faciities in agreed sites shoud have priority. Proper soid waste management is aso important Pubic offices Various offices are organised to serve the popuation, such as city/town administration bureaus, municipaities, kebee administrative offices, etc. These a need a heathy office environment for the benefit of the heath of the civi servants and their visitors. Particuar requirements incude we it and ventiated offices/rooms, atrines and proper soid waste management faciities. The suppy of safe water and handwashing faciities are important for persona hygiene Panning for improvements To make improvements to the sanitation and waste management situation in any of the institutions we have described requires carefu panning. If you were invoved in a scheme to make improvements to institutions, there are a number of panning activities that shoud be done in a stepwise manner. Some of the key activities are briefy described beow. Know the scope of your activity This requires the identification of institutions by type and number in your working area. Identify existing WASH-reated probems A survey to assess the conditions and gather data on any existing probems shoud be undertaken. This is simiar to the assessments you earned about in Study Session 3. It wi provide baseine data that is usefu for anaysing any probems and setting priorities based on the oca situation. An exampe checkist for a schoo is shown in Tabe Tabe 12.1 Schoo safety form. No. Question Response 1.0 Genera information 1.1 Date of inspection 1.2 Name of the institution 1.3 Number of students by sex Mae/femae 1.4 Address 1.5 Ownership Private/pubic 12 of 18 Wednesday 30 March 2016

13 12.4 Panning for improvements 1.6 Leve of schoo 1st cyce/2nd cyce 2.0 Schoo compound 2.1 Location of schoo, hazards such as noise, proximity to road 2.2 Compound sanitation: free from soid waste, fowing iquid waste 3.0 Cassroom Yes/no indicate the subject 3.1 Window Adequate/inadequate 3.2 Ventiation Adequate/inadequate 3.3 Lighting Adequate/inadequate 3.4 Condition of cassroom and its foor 4.0 Water suppy 4.1 Is water avaiabe in the schoo compound? Yes/no 4.2 Source Piped/we/spring/river/ other 4.3 Suppy of drinking water and handwashing faciities Yes/no 4.4 Number of water taps 4.5 Ceaniness around the water point Yes/no 5.0 Latrine provision 5.1 Is atrine avaiabe in the schoo compound? Yes/no 5.2 Type of atrine Pit atrine/vip/other 5.3 Foor of atrine (washabe sab) Concrete sab/earth 5.4 Latrine avaiabe for: Students/teachers 5.5 Separate atrines for mae and femae students Yes/no 5.6 Latrine superstructure 5.7 Excreta seen around the atrine Yes/no 5.8 Excreta inside the atrine Yes/no 5.9 Can a student use the atrine in its current condition? Yes/no 5.10 Doors that ock from the inside, not the outside Yes/no 5.11 Number of atrine hoes 5.12 Access to disabed chidren Yes/no 5.13 Access to menstrua hygiene management Yes/no 6.0 Soid waste management 6.1 Is there a refuse container in the compound? Yes/no 6.2 Is there a refuse container in each cassroom? Yes/no 6.3 Is there a buria pit for refuse? Yes/no 6.4 Is there an incinerator? Yes/no 6.5 Is waste coected for disposa by a contractor? Yes/no 7.0 Students persona hygiene (observe a few students) 7.1 Cothing Intact/torn/cean/uncean 7.2 Hair Cean/uncean 13 of 18 Wednesday 30 March 2016

14 12.4 Panning for improvements 7.3 Face Cean/uncean 7.4 Nits Yes/no 7.5 Feet Cean/uncean 7.6 Fingernais Cean/uncean 7.7 Eyes Cean/uncean 7.8 Lice Yes/no 7.9 Teeth Cean/uncean 7.10 Scabies Yes/no 8.0 Handwashing faciity 8.1 Basin 8.2 Source of running water for rinsing (tap, jug) Tap/jug 8.3 Soap or ash Yes/no 8.4 Soak pit to avoid standing water Yes/no 9.0 Summary of main findings 10.0 Suggestions Identify partners that you can work with It is usefu to identify partners in order to work together and bring improvements from mutua efforts. Depending on the type of institution, partners are ikey to be government offices such as the kebee administration, heath office, education office, water utiity, schoo administration, schoo parents committees, schoo WASH cubs, traditiona eaders or poice and court desks. It is aso important to incude authorities of reigious and other oca institutions/organisations. Identify and prioritise activities In coaboration with partners and in consutation with potentia beneficiaries, proposed activities can be identified and then pans deveoped. There wi need to be carefu assessment of the resources required. Improving sanitation, waste management and hygiene so that they meet recommended requirements is chaenging. For exampe, if a schoo has no atrine and the schoo head is advised to insta atrines for students, they cannot do it immediatey. They need time and a budget. If the schoo has atrines but they are in poor condition (Figure 12.5) then improvements can be made more easiy and require fewer resources. Other activities that may not require many resources incude estabishing WASH cubs, hygiene education for students, and periodicay conducting persona hygiene inspections. 14 of 18 Wednesday 30 March 2016

15 12.5 Reguar inspection and monitoring of faciities Figure 12.5 A dirty schoo atrine cubice and wash basin with a tap that is obviousy not used. What improvements woud you suggest for the schoo faciities shown in Figure 12.5? The priorities woud be to: introduce a daiy ceaning schedue to keep cubices and the surrounding area cean fit doors to the cubices for privacy provide water in a by the basin jerrycan if piped water suppy is not possibe provide soap. Design the pan of action This wi depend on the number and type of institution. The pan shoud indicate the ist of activities, the timescae for impementation, the frequency for reguar events ike inspections, and who is responsibe. It shoud aso incude appropriate foow-up activities after improvements have been made Reguar inspection and monitoring of faciities Inspection is a too to identify probems, to design strategies for improvement and to monitor behaviour and the impacts of interventions. Reguar visits are needed to each oca pubic institution, at east once a year, using a checkist or a questionnaire that enabes you to coect data on sanitation and waste management, simiar to the checkist for schoos in Tabe If you are taking part in an inspection, you shoud inform the owners or peope responsibe for the institution that you want to visit them at a specified date and time. It is important to be transparent and genuine when inspecting to show that you want to hep the institution to attain proper hygiene and not to criticise or penaise them. You shoud give advice to the owners for improvement. If you do find any vioations of sanitary requirements that require enforcement, these shoud be reported to the kebee 15 of 18 Wednesday 30 March 2016

16 Summary of Study Session 12 administrator. Monitoring is an important part of any programme for improvement and is described in more detai in Study Session 15. Summary of Study Session 12 In Study Session 12, you have earned that: 1 Sanitation and waste management faciities are essentia for a schoos to ensure that students remain heathy, attend reguary and achieve educationa success. 2 A schoos need separate atrines for boys and girs and handwashing faciities with soap. Latrines shoud be designed with the number of chidren, their size and needs of disabe students in mind. 3 It is essentia to provide faciities in schoos that enabe girs to manage their monthy menstrua periods effectivey and with privacy. 4 Schoos shoud have severa bins avaiabe for waste paper and other types of soid waste. 5 Heathcare institutions shoud have routine procedures for separating hazardous from non-hazardous soid waste and for the correct handing, storage and disposa of these wastes. 6 Usua methods for disposing of hazardous heathcare waste are buria in pits or incineration. In arger towns and cities, icensed disposa firms may be avaiabe. 7 Prisons, reigious institutions and pubic offices shoud a have atrines and handwashing faciities sufficient for the number of peope using them. 8 Panning improvements for institutiona WASH requires assessment of the situation to identify probems, consideration of avaiabe resources, coaboration with partners, and the deveopment and impementation of activity pans. 9 Reguar inspection of sanitation and waste management faciities at a types of institution is important. Sef-Assessment Questions (SAQs) for Study Session 12 Now that you have competed this study session, you can assess how we you have achieved its Learning Outcomes by answering these questions. SAQ 12.1 (tests Learning Outcomes 12.1 and 12.2) Imagine there is a oca NGO working in the town you are assigned to that wants to deveop a schoo WASH programme. Whie preparing the project documents, the deegates of the oca NGO come to your office and ask you to support them. List the minimum requirements that you wi advise them to incude in the sanitation and hygiene part of their programme. 16 of 18 Wednesday 30 March 2016

17 Sef-Assessment Questions (SAQs) for Study Session 12 Answer Your advice to the NGO needs to suggest that: Separate atrines for boys and girs shoud be provided that are ocated in a convenient pace in the schoo compound, give privacy to users, are easy to cean and agreeabe to use. The number of atrines shoud be cacuated based on the number of students (one cubice per 100 students) with a minimum of two cubices for girs and two for boys, with urinas as we. Latrines shoud be designed and constructed to be appropriate for chidren of the age at the schoo; sma chidren wi need faciities they can reach and fee comfortabe using. There shoud be appropriate atrine and handwashing faciities for students with disabiities. Handwashing faciities with soap shoud be provided very cose to the atrines with separate faciities for boys and girs. The suppy of water for handwashing must be maintained at a times. There shoud be appropriate provision of menstrua hygiene management faciities that ensure privacy for girs and aow them to dispose of or wash used menstrua pads hygienicay. SAQ 12.2 (tests Learning Outcome 12.2) If the same NGO wanted to extend their schoos programme to incude improvements to soid waste management, what further advice woud you offer? Answer To improve management of soid waste in schoos you coud advise that there shoud be: waste bins in a cassrooms and teachers rooms, with separate bins for recycabe and non-recycabe waste a reguar ceaning schedue to keep cassrooms and a other parts of the schoo incuding atrines and the outside areas, cean and tidy efforts made to discourage students from dropping itter anywhere in the schoo and to take pride in a cean schoo environment a disposa pit in the grounds that is fenced off, if the schoo has to dispose of its own waste. Waste deposited in the pit shoud be covered immediatey with soi. SAQ 12.3 (tests Learning Outcomes 12.1 and 12.3) In many towns in Ethiopia, primary coection of soid waste is done by micro- and sma enterprises (MSEs). Heath centres and other heath institutions in the town are customers of the MSEs. Imagine you were organising some technica training for the MSE empoyees. Describe the major hazardous waste components of heathcare wastes that you woud address during the training and identify appropriate disposa methods for each of them. In particuar expain how anatomica waste shoud be disposed of. 17 of 18 Wednesday 30 March 2016

18 Sef-Assessment Questions (SAQs) for Study Session 12 Answer Firsty, you shoud expain to the MSE empoyees that they shoud ony coect the nonhazardous waste which shoud be in back bins. They shoud not coect waste in yeow or red bins uness authorised, because this contains hazardous materia and shoud be kept separate. Hazardous waste needs proper management starting from generation to disposa. However, they need to be made aware of the possibe hazardous wastes and appropriate disposa methods as foows: Sharps (needes, syringes etc.) shoud be put immediatey in a sharps box and then incinerated and/or burned in a sharps pit. Materias contaminated with bood or body fuids such as bandages and used goves coud be infectious so shoud be stored in a yeow bin and incinerated and/or buried. Anatomica waste incuding pacentas, body parts, bood etc. is aso infectious and shoud be stored in a red bin, or yeow bin if red is not avaiabe. These wastes shoud not be handed by the MSE empoyees but shoud be buried in a pacenta pit. A pacenta pit is a buria pit specificay for pacentas and other anatomica waste. It shoud be at east 1 m deep and be surrounded by a fence with a ockabe gate. Waste shoud be transported on a dedicated troey or cart, deposited in the pit as soon as it is produced and covered immediatey with soi. You shoud aso advise the MSE empoyees to wear goves and other protective cothing when carrying out their duties. SAQ 12.4 (tests Learning Outcome 12.4) Briefy describe the main activities needed for panning improvements in sanitation and waste management in oca institutions. Answer The foowing step-by-step actions are important when deveoping a pan for an improvement programme: 1 Know the scope of activity by identifying the institutions to be incuded. 2 Assess the existing sanitation and waste management situation and identify the main probems. 3 Identify the possibe partners that you can work with. 4 Identify and prioritise activities taking account of avaiabe resources. 5 Deveop and impement the pan of action. 18 of 18 Wednesday 30 March 2016