Staff awareness of medical waste management and its impact on environmental performance in hospitals in Saudi Arabia

The research investigates the impact of staff awareness of medical waste management on environmental performance in hospitals in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.The study conceptualises staff awareness through four dimensions: concept and risk awareness, procedural awareness, safety and responsibility awareness, and organisational awareness.Hospital environmental performance is examined across four dimensions: internal environmental cleanliness, pollution and risk reduction, waste-handling efficiency, and environmental compliance and improvement.A quantitative cross-sectional survey design was adopted.Data were collected from 384 employees working in selected Saudi hospitals, including physicians, nurses, laboratory staff, pharmacists, technicians, housekeeping staff, environmental services workers, and administrative employees.The data were analysed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) through SmartPLS.The measurement model confirmed adequate reliability, convergent validity, and discriminant validity.The structural model results showed that all four dimensions of staff awareness had positive and statistically significant effects on the dimensions of hospital environmental performance.Concept and risk awareness had their strongest effect on internal environmental cleanliness.Procedural awareness was the strongest predictor of pollution and risk reduction, as well as waste handling efficiency.Safety and responsibility awareness showed consistent positive effects across all environmental performance dimensions.Organisational awareness had the strongest effect on environmental compliance and improvement.The findings confirm that staff awareness is not merely an informational factor but an important organisational capability that supports cleaner, safer, more efficient, and more compliant hospital waste-management practices.The study contributes theoretically by integrating staff awareness and hospital environmental performance into one explanatory model.Practically, it highlights the need for continuous role-based training, clear procedures, visible supervision, organisational communication, and shared responsibility among all hospital staff.