Chemistry International
Vol. 22, No. 2
March 2000
New
Books and Publications
New
Publication from the World Health Organization
Teacher's Guide: Management of Wastes from Health Care Activities
by A. Prüss and W. K. Townend
1998, v + 227 pages (available only in English), WHO/EOS/98.8, CHF
35.-/USD 31.50; In developing countries: CHF 24.50, Order No. 1930134.
Contents
- definition and characterization of health care waste
- health impacts of health care wastes
- legislative, regulatory, and policy aspects
- health care waste management planning
- waste minimization, recycling, and reuse
- handling, storage, and transportation of health care wastes
- treatment and disposal technologies for health care waste
- application of treatment and disposal methods to health care waste
categories
- collection and disposal of wastewater
- costs related to health care waste management
- health and safety practices for health care personnel and waste
workers
- emergency response
- hospital hygiene and infection control
- training
- minimal programs for health care waste management
- guidance levels of activity for procedures in nuclear medicine for
a typical adult patient
- chemical destruction methods for cytostatic drugs
- clearance levels for radioactive waste
- procedure to be followed in the event of accidental contamination
by mutagenic or carcinogenic products
This volume is a spiral-bound collection of resource materials for
use in a three-day training course focused on the safe management of
health care wastes. Course materials are aimed at an audience of managers
of hospitals and other health care establishments, policymakers, and
professionals involved in waste management. Noting that health care
waste has a higher potential of infection and injury than any other
type of waste, training materials aim both to heighten awareness of
specific hazards and to illustrate the strategiesówhether involving
national legislation or safe practices at the institutional levelóthat
can minimize these risks. The teacher's guide is a companion volume
to the WHO handbook, Safe Management of Wastes from Health Care Activities,
listed immediately above.
Training materials include ready-to-copy texts for overhead transparencies
or slides, lecture notes, handouts, exercises, worksheets, and evaluation
forms. Apart from drawing attention to the public health and environmental
hazards of health care wastes, material for the course includes abundant
technical information on various safe options for waste segregation,
storage, collection, labeling, transport, treatment, and disposal.
Specific training materials range from overheads listing the components
of national programs for waste management and outlining an action plan,
through a handout illustrating technical options for waste treatment,
to a worksheet for calculating the costs for construction and operation
of an incineration plant. Advice on how to organize and conduct the
course is provided together with suggestions for using problem-based
approaches and supplementing the materials with locally relevant examples
and exercises.