Hazardous waste management practices among healthcare workers in Gondar City, Ethiopia

Healthcare facilities generate various types of waste, including hazardous waste, which poses significant risks to health and the environment if not managed properly. In many developing countries like Ethiopia, hazardous waste is often treated the same as general waste, leading to contamination of healthcare workers, patients, and communities. While healthcare workers play a key role in managing hazardous waste and most studies in Ethiopia have focused on general waste management. Therefore, this study aims to assess hazardous healthcare waste management practices and associated factors among healthcare workers in Gondar City, Northwest Ethiopia, 2024. An institutional-based cross-sectional study design was conducted. The source populations were all health workers in healthcare facilities of Gondar City from May 25 to June 25/2024. Data were collected using a pretested, structured self-administered questionnaire and observational checklist. EPiData V. 4.6 software was used for data entry and then exported to SPSS version 26.0 for further analysis. Bivariate and multivariable logistic regression analyses were computed to measure the association between work-related stress and independent variables. AOR with 95% CI or P value of < 0.05 was used to declare a statistically significant association. The study reveals that while 54.8% of healthcare workers demonstrated good practices in managing hazardous healthcare waste, there is still room for improvement. Good attitudes [AOR = 3.28, 95% CI: (2.03, 5.30)] and training [AOR = 10.2, 95% CI: (6.13, 17.1)] were strong predictors of good practices, highlighting the need for fostering awareness and providing regular, comprehensive training programs. Workers in private facilities [AOR = 5.94% CI: (3.16, 11.2)] performed better, suggesting that public facilities can improve by adopting similar systems and resources. Cleaners [AOR = 2.77, 95% CI: (1.26, 6.12)] play a critical role and require targeted training and support. Surprisingly, workers with over 11 years of experience [AOR = 0.19, 95% CI: (0.08, 0.43)] were less likely to follow good practices, underscoring the need for continuous professional development and refresher training to prevent complacency and ensure adherence to current standards. Good hazardous healthcare waste management practices were low among healthcare workers in Gondar City. Training, profession, work experience and attitude of healthcare workers were found to have a significant association with hazardous healthcare waste management practices. Training programs should be provided to healthcare facility staff to improve the proper management of hazardous healthcare waste.