Environmental Cleaning,

Disinfection And Bio-

medical Waste
Management

Dr. Dibya Prasana Mohanty

Learning Objectives
Environmental cleaning and Disinfection
Environmental decontamination
Cleaning of medical equipment
Cleaning soiled bedding, towels and clothes from patients with COVID-19
Cleaning and disinfection of occupied patient rooms
Cleaning and disinfection after patient discharge and transfer
Prevent environment contamination: contain respiratory secretions
Bio-medical waste management
Environmental
Cleaning and
Disinfection
 Environmental Decontamination (1)
General Principles
• Healthcare environment contains a diverse population of microorganisms,
but only few are significant pathogens
• Microbiologically contaminated surfaces can serve as reservoirs of
potential pathogens
• Contaminated surfaces not directly associated with transmission of
infections to either staff or patients
• Transfer of microorganisms from environmental surfaces to patients is
mostly via hand contact with the surface
• Hand hygiene is important to minimize the impact of this transfer
• Cleaning and disinfecting environmental surfaces is fundamental in
reducing healthcare-associated infections
Environmental Decontamination (2)
• COVID-19 virus can potentially survive in the environment
for several hours/days
• Premises and areas potentially contaminated with the
virus to be cleaned before their re-use
• Products containing antimicrobial agents known to be
effective against coronaviruses may be used
• Established cleaning strategies to be
used
 Environmental Decontamination (3)
• Housekeeping surfaces can be divided into two groups
• Those with minimal hand contact (e.g. floors and ceilings)
• “High touch surfaces” – those with frequent hand-contact
• High touch housekeeping surfaces in patient-care areas should be
cleaned and/or disinfected more frequently
Doorknobs
Bedrails
Light switches
Wall areas around the toilet in the patient’s room
Edges of privacy curtains
Cleaning/disinfection of medical
equipment (1)
• Wear gloves when handling and transporting used patient
care equipment
• Before removing equipment from patients room, medical
equipment must be disinfected
• Non-critical medical equipment:
• E.g., stethoscopes, blood pressure cuffs, dialysis machines and
equipment knobs and controls
• Usually only require cleansing followed by low- to intermediate-
level disinfection, depending on the nature and degree of
contamination
 Cleaning soiled bedding, towels and clothes
from patients with COVID-19 (1)
• Clean the laundry and surfaces in all environments in which COVID-19
cases receive care – at least once a day and when a patient is
discharged
• Hospital disinfectants:
• 70% ethyl alcohol for small areas – reusable dedicated equipment (e.g.
thermometers)
• Sodium hypochlorite at 0.5% (equivalent 5000 ppm) for surface disinfection
• Individuals/staff dealing with soiled bedding, towels and clothes from
patients with COVID-19 should:
• Wear appropriate PPE
• ; place soiled linen in a leak-proof bag or bucket
• Perform hand hygiene after blood/body fluid exposure and after PPE removal
Cleaning and disinfection of occupied
patient rooms
• Designate specific well-trained staff for cleaning
environmental surfaces
• Cleaning personnel should wear PPE and must be trained
on proper use of PPE and hand hygiene
• Define the scope of cleaning to be done each day
• Use a checklist to promote accountability for cleaning
responsibilities
• Keep cleaning supplies outside the patient room
Spill management
• Worker assigned to clean the spill should wear gloves
and other personal protective equipment
• Most of the organic matter of the spill to be removed with
absorbent material
• Surface to be cleaned to remove residual organic matter
• Use disinfectant: hypochlorite
• 1% for small spills
• 10% for large spills
Cleaning and disinfection after patient
discharge or transfer
• Clean and disinfect all surfaces that were in contact with
patient or may have become contaminated during patient
care
• Do not spray or fog occupied or unoccupied rooms with
disinfectant – potentially dangerous practice that has no
proven benefits
Respiratory hygiene/cough etiquette
• All persons with signs and symptoms of a respiratory
infection (regardless of presumed cause) must follow
respiratory hygiene/cough etiquette
• Cover the nose/mouth when coughing or sneezing
• Use tissues to contain respiratory secretions
• Dispose of tissues in the nearest waste receptacle after use
• Perform hand hygiene after contact with respiratory secretions
and contaminated objects/materials
Prevent environment contamination:
contain respiratory secretions (2)
Ensure availability of materials for adhering to respiratory
hygiene/cough etiquette in waiting areas for patients and visitors:
• Provide tissues and no-touch receptacles (i.e. waste container with
foot-operated lid or uncovered waste container) for used tissue
disposal
• Provide conveniently located dispensers of alcohol-based hand rub
• Provide soap and disposable towels for hand washing where sinks
are available
Prevent environment contamination:
contain respiratory secretions (3)
Masking and separation of persons with symptoms of respiratory infection
• During periods of increased respiratory infection in the community, offer triple-
layer masks to persons who are coughing
• Encourage coughing persons to sit at least 3 feet (1 metre) away from others in
common waiting areas
Droplet precautions
• Healthcare workers should practice droplet precautions, in addition to standard
precautions, when examining a patient with symptoms of a respiratory infection
• Droplet precautions should be maintained until it is determined that they are no
longer needed
Biomedical Waste
Management
Bio-Medical Waste Management
Rules 2016, amended 2018 & 2019
• Environment (Protection) Act, 1986
• Apply to all persons who generate, collect, receive, store,
transport, treat, dispose, or handle any bio-medical waste
• "Occupier" means a person having administrative control
over the institution and the premises generating bio-
medical waste
• Responsibility of every occupier – safe and proper
identification, handling, storage and disposal of
biomedical waste from laboratories and related facilities
Segregation, packaging,
transportation and storage
• Untreated bio-medical waste should not be mixed with other
wastes
• Bio-medical waste shall be segregated into containers or bags at
point of generation (as per BMWM Rules 2016)
• Bio-medical waste containers or bags should be prominently
labelled with biohazard symbol (and other details as per Rules)
• Untreated bio-medical waste must not be stored >48 hrs
• Ensure no spillage occurs during handling and transit of bio-
medical waste
Yellow Bag
• Anatomical waste – human, animal body parts & tissue
• Soiled waste – items contaminated with blood or body fluids – like
dressings, cotton swabs and bags containing residual blood/blood
components
• Chemical waste – chemicals used in production of biologicals
• Microbiology, biotechnology and other clinical laboratory waste (to be
pre-treated by autoclaving before discarding):
• Blood bags
• Laboratory cultures
• Stocks or specimens of microorganisms
• Live or attenuated vaccines
• Human and animal cell cultures
• Discarded linen contaminated with blood or body fluid including mask
Red Bag
• Contaminated recyclable waste
• Waste from disposable items:
• Tubing and bottles
• Intravenous tubes and sets
• Catheters and urine bags
• Syringes (without needles), vacutainers
• Gloves
• Plastic petri-plates containing infectious material to be pre-treated by
autoclaving and discarded in red bags
Translucent white box
• Puncture, leak and tamper proof
• Sharps waste (used, discarded and contaminated metal sharps)
• Needles
• Syringes with fixed needles
• Needles from needle tip cutter or burner
• Scalpels
• Blades
• Any other contaminated sharps
Blue box
• Or containers with blue coloured marking
• Puncture and leak proof boxes
• Glassware
• Broken or discarded glass including medicine vials & ampoules (except
those contaminated with cytotoxic waste)
• Broken or discarded contaminated glass
 Labelling of BMW bags

Label should be non-washable and prominently visible

Disposal of BMW
Category Type of bag/container Type of waste Treatment disposal options

Yellow Non chlorinated colour • Human anatomical waste Incineration/deep burial

coded bags in coloured • Animal anatomical waste
bins • Soiled waste
• Expired or discarded medicines
• Chemical waste
Separate collection system • Micro, biotech & clinical lab waste
leading to ETP • Chemical liquid waste

Red Non chlorinated plastic Contaminated waste (recyclable) Auto/micro/hydro and then
bags in coloured bins/ tubing, bottles, urine bags, syringes sent to recycling
containers (without needles) and gloves

White Translucent, puncture, leak Waste sharps including metals Auto/dry heat sterilization
& tamper proof followed by shredding
/mutilation/encapsulation

Blue Water proof card board Glassware waste Disinfection or auto/micro

boxes/containers /hydro then sent to recycling

*Disposal by deep burial is permitted only in rural or remote areas where there is no access to common bio-
medical waste treatment facility. This will be carried out with prior approval from the prescribed authority
Conclusion
• Cleaning and disinfecting environmental surfaces is
fundamental in reducing healthcare-associated infections
• Established cleaning strategies to be used
• Cleaning staff must use appropriate PPE
• Prevent environment contamination by containing
respiratory secretions
• Manage biomedical waste as per existing Biomedical
waste management Rules
Thank you