Biomedical Waste Management
This domain tests the Bio-Medical Waste Management Rules, 2016 (with the 2018 and 2019 amendments) - specifically segregation at the point of generation, colour coding, storage and sharps safety.
Core duties
The occupier (head of the facility) is responsible for safe handling, staff training, immunisation, record keeping and reporting. Waste must be segregated at the point of generation, bags filled to no more than three-quarters, labelled with the biohazard symbol, category and date, and stored for no more than 48 hours without refrigeration. Final treatment is through a Common Bio-medical Waste Treatment Facility (CBWTF) or an authorised on-site system.
Colour coding under the 2016 rules
- Yellow: human and animal anatomical waste, soiled waste, expired or discarded medicines, cytotoxic waste (labelled separately), chemical waste, microbiology and biotechnology waste. Treated by incineration, plasma pyrolysis or deep burial.
- Red: contaminated recyclable plastics - IV sets and tubing, urine bags, gloves, catheters, syringes without needles. Autoclaved or shredded then recycled.
- White: sharps - needles, syringes with fixed needles, scalpels and blades, in puncture-proof, tamper-proof containers, destroyed with a needle hub cutter.
- Blue: glassware, broken or unbroken glass, glass ampoules and metallic implants.
Sharps safety
Never recap or bend a needle; drop it directly into the white container using the hub cutter.
Worked example
Sort these four items: used IV cannula, injection needle, expired tablet strip, broken glass ampoule. Reasoning: the cannula is contaminated plastic, so red; the needle is a sharp, so white; the expired medicine is pharmaceutical waste, so yellow; the glass ampoule is glassware, so blue.
Traps that cost marks
Putting gloves in yellow instead of red; putting expired medicines in red; recapping needles; filling bags to the brim.