Infection Prevention, Personal Hygiene and Biomedical Waste Management
This domain tests standard precautions, hand hygiene, PPE use and the colour-coded segregation of biomedical waste under the Bio-Medical Waste Management Rules, 2016.
Chain of infection and standard precautions
The six links are infectious agent, reservoir, portal of exit, mode of transmission, portal of entry and susceptible host; breaking any one link stops transmission. Standard precautions apply to every patient: hand hygiene, gloves, gown, mask/eye protection, safe sharps handling, spill management and clean linen.
Hand hygiene follows the WHO 5 Moments (before touching a patient, before a clean/aseptic procedure, after body-fluid exposure, after touching a patient, after touching surroundings) and the six steps of handwashing with soap and water for 40–60 seconds.
PPE order: gown → mask → goggles → gloves. Remove in reverse, gloves first and mask last, then perform hand hygiene.
Biomedical waste colour coding
- Yellow – anatomical waste, soiled dressings, expired medicines, cytotoxic and chemical waste, microbiology waste.
- Red – contaminated recyclable plastic: gloves, IV tubing, bottles, catheters.
- White (translucent, puncture-proof) – sharps: needles, blades, broken contaminated glass.
- Blue – glassware, metallic implants, broken non-contaminated glass.
Sharps containers are sealed at three-quarters full and labelled with the biohazard symbol and date.
Worked example
Segregate four items: a used needle → white translucent sharps container; blood-soaked gauze → yellow bag; used examination gloves → red bag; an empty glass vial → blue container. Reasoning: segregation is by material and contamination, not by convenience; a needle in a yellow bag is a serious finding in any audit.
Traps that cost marks
- Recapping a needle by hand - never recap; use a needle destroyer or sharps container.
- Believing gloves replace hand hygiene.
- Overfilling sharps containers or storing waste beyond 48 hours.
- Calling 70% alcohol a sterilant - it is a disinfectant.