Govt hospital hazardous material left in the open
MBABANE – There is a health hazard at the Mbabane Public Health Unit (PHU).
Hazardous materials have been piling up without being properly disposed of due to the non-functioning incinerator.
It is reported that the incinerator has been out of service for about three weeks now and the Mbabane Government Hospital now utilises incinerators from other hospitals to dispose of waste material such as placentas.
The hazardous materials discarded by the Mbabane Government Hospital have been placed at the back of the PHU for quite some time now. The materials are packed in red refuse bags and buckets.
These materials include all the apparatus used in the hospital, umbilical cords, placentas and other substances disposed of by hospitals. The harmful substances have caused the hospital’s surroundings to have an unpleasant smell. According to some orderlies at the hospital, the hazardous materials have not been properly disposed of because the hospital’s incinerator was dysfunctional for quite some time now.
Incinerator
The orderlies said the hospital was currently using the Pigg’s Peak Government Hospital incinerator and other hospitals’ incinerators. They said it would take quite some days for the waste material to be transported to those places, hence the pile at the back of the PHU. The health workers said this was even dangerous to them as they were sometimes required to load these harmful materials onto the trucks. Medical incinerators are designed to safely dispose of harmful materials at high temperatures. The process ensures no harmful gases are released into the environment. Medical waste incinerators have scrubbers to clean the polluted gases and other particulate matter.
Factors
Director of Health Services Dr Vusi Magagula said a combination of factors had led to the situation faced at the PHU. He said the issues ranged from structural failure of the wall of the incinerator, to issues with diesel availability to transport the waste to other incinerators, hence the piling up of the waste there. Dr Magagula said the ministry was doing all it could to solve the problem.