A Survey of Waste Status based on the Fourth-generation Accreditation Model in Selected Hospitals of the Armed Forces

Hospital wastes are considered hazardous wastes due to their potential impact on environmental pollution and health hazards. The aim of this study was to determine the quantitative status of hospital wastes in selected hospitals of the Armed Forces in Iran and examine the adaptability of the current waste management practice with the fourth-generation accreditation model.

In this cross-sectional study, the amount of waste generated in eight hospitals of the Iranian Armed Forces were weighed daily for each hospital in 2019. The accreditation data were collected using the observation method following the standard fourth-generation accreditation checklist. Staff training time was determined by referring to hospital documents. The data were analyzed using the SPSS software (Version16.0).

The total daily waste production per active bed in the Iranian army hospitals was on average at 6.06 kg. There was a significant difference between various waste types (i.e., infectious, non-infectious, sharp, and chemical wastes) in the studied hospitals. The mean daily waste generated in hospitals with the open-heart operating rooms was also significantly different from the other hospitals (P<0.001). Evaluation of these results based on the fourth-generation accreditation standards revealed that the examined hospitals achieved 89% of the scores of waste generation indicators. In this study, there was no significant relationship between the training and the amount of waste.

The fourfold difference between the minimum and maximum daily waste production per active bed in the Iranian army hospitals indicates that there has been non-compliance with waste production standards in some hospitals. With proper training and continuous monitoring, waste generation can be reduced to a minimum.