In the past few years, there has been an increase in public concern about the medical wastes
management on a global basis and a significant effort has been directed toward proper and safe
management of hazardous medical wastes. However, if there is not a clear understanding of the
risks, inadequate management practices are often implemented. The objective of this study was to
analyse the medical waste management practice of hospitals in Algarve (Portugal), analyse the risk
perception of medical staff (nurses, doctors and housekeepers) and assess the risk for medical staff.
This study was carried out in the three hospitals, one public and two private. Field visits and
questionnaires survey method was implemented to collect information regarding different medical
waste management aspects and the perception of risk associated with medical wastes by the medical
staff. The risk assessment was based in real injuries data associated with sharps and needles
(estimate of infections) and in inadequate wastes separation, i.e. frequency of errors in separation.
There are some problems in the medical waste management in all hospitals due to lack of training
and resources. Nurse’s group show slightly higher knowledge about medical wastes separation, with
71.6% correct answers, and doctor’s group lower knowledge, with 64.8% correct answers. Only
26% of doctors participated in training programs and this medical staff group evidences a lower
perception of risk associated of the infectious wastes (group IV wastes). The separation about
pharmaceuticals, cytotoxic and pathological waste has more errors, which in reality can be reflected
in a higher percentage of inadequate treatment and final disposal, and has impacts in medical
workers and environment. Most injuries from needlestick/sharp occur during patient care, but there
are medical wastes risk associated, mainly linked to the deposition in containers and separation
errors of this material. However, only HVB is likely to occur in hospitals, in coming years if the
prophylaxis is not 100%. Results indicate the waste management is affected by perception of risk
and training programs
