| Incineration
of Health Care Waste: A Survey of Selected Health Institutions in Swaziland
Incinerators have been proved
to be unsustainable options of managing waste. In this regard, Yonge Nawe
as one of the advocates for environmentally responsible waste management
has been conducting a survey of incinerators in Swaziland.
Incinerators are unsustainable
options for managing waste |
The survey was done as part
of the organisation’s three- year medical waste management project, which
is aimed at promoting sustainable environmental health care waste management
practices. A sample of government health facilities was surveyed.
Generally, all surveyed institutions
incinerate pathological waste. This waste includes placentas, body tissues,
blood specimen, dressings and syringes.
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Most incinerator operators received
hands on operating instructions by the company that installed the incinerator.
Ash produced during incineration is thrown into dumpsites. Some respondents
highlighted that the incinerators produced foul smells that were sometimes
unbearable for people living within close proximity to the incinerator.
Waste such as sharps is not burnt completely to ashes. Yet some of these
remnants are dumped into the dumpsites that are open to scavenging by people
and animals, thereby potentially exposing them to great danger.
The survey addressed the following
key issues; Condition of the incinerators; Operators knowledge; Capacity
building; Waste information; Occupational health and safety; and Effects
of waste incineration to the community
Condition of the incinerators
Condition of the incinerator
was in terms of maintenance and efficiency. Generally, the Ministry of
Health and Social Welfare through its Bio med Department do maintenance
of the incinerators. The incinerators are checked twice a year. Some of
the incinerators have been upgraded to improve efficiency in terms of burning
waste into ashes. However, sometimes it takes days or months before repairs
are done. At such times, the waste is thrown into a refuse pit and
is burnt.
Capacity building
Capacity building was in terms
of training of operators of incinerators. There is no in-service training
offered except for operating instructions given to the person allocated
the responsibility of burning the waste by an external company that supplied
the incinerator. In most institutions visited incinerator operators did
not use protective clothing provided.
Waste Information
This was in terms of quantity
of ash produced, how and where it is disposed. On average incinerators
burn approximately 30kg of waste daily Mon-Friday though the amount of
ash produced is not known. The disposal method is dumping. The waste is
dumped at dumpsites and or landfill sites. Some institutions were surprisingly
not aware of what happens to ashes after it was burnt in the incinerators.
Occupational health and
safety
Occupational health and safety
was in terms of, availability of guidelines, protective clothing and operator’s
regulations. None of the operators had been provided with health and safety
operations guidelines or regulations. No formal training on occupational
health and safety was provided either. Protective clothing was inadequate
as some institutions had to improvise protective clothing.
Effects of waste incineration
to the community
This was in terms of the distances
between the incinerator and homesteads. In addition, the survey looked
at pollution issues, i.e. whether there were any complaints by nearby communities
about pollution caused by the incineration. Some homesteads are a walking
distance from the incinerator especially staff houses of the health institutions.
Nearby homesteads complained about the smell produced by incinerators.
The smell was terrible in windy days. Further the wind blew contaminants,
which they do not know its impact to them and the environment.
Conclusion
Incineration of waste poses
some hazards to people and the environment. Privately owned incinerators
will be sampled and surveyed to draw comparisons with government run incinerators.
However, alternatives to incineration should be explored and implemented
and save people and the environment from hazardous dioxins and furans.
Yonge Nawe in collaboration with Health Care Without Harm is exploring
an alternative to incineration technology at the Raleigh Fitkin Memorial
Hospital (RFMH) based in Manzini, the hub of Swaziland.
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