Govt launches bar-coded system for biomedical waste mgmt at hosps
Times of India | 16 September 2024
Kolkata: In a bid to improve biomedical waste management and curb illegal handling, the Bengal government has implemented a bar-coded tracking system in all govt hospitals. This digital system is designed to monitor biomedical waste from its source to final disposal, ensuring greater accountability and control. The move comes amid allegations of biomedical waste smuggling after the tragic rape and murder of a PGT doctor at R G Kar Medical College & Hospital.
Under the new system, hospitals will use two types of bar-coded labels for biomedical waste — pre-printed barcodes/QR codes and pasted barcodes/QR codes.
In the first case, these can be directly printed on colour-coded waste bags or containers, procured from approved vendors or common biomedical Waste treatment facility (CBWTF) operators. In the second case, the labels can be affixed on bags or containers by hospital staff.
In both the cases, the waste bags must meet the Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016, which require a minimum thickness of 50 microns.
Hospitals will bear the cost of these bar-coded labels, as determined by agreements with waste operators or vendors. CBWTF operators are required to adopt a bar-coded waste management system, allowing multiple stakeholders, including hospital staff and regulatory body like West Bengal Pollution Control Board (WBPCB) to access real-time data.
The system will ensure every waste bag is weighed, scanned and tracked with receipts generated on the site for immediate documentation. To prevent pilferage, the waste will be re-scanned upon arrival at disposal facilities, and any delay in this process will alert authorities. Records will be maintained for five years, as mandated by the Biomedical Waste Management Rules.