Um estudo sobre a gestão de resíduos de serviços de saúde : o caso da Fundação Ezequiel Dias em Belo Horizonte (Brasil)

Abstract

Healthcare waste (HCW) presents occupational, environmental and social risks and involves physical, biological and chemical agents. The national and international literature indicate that, despite the risks inherent to these residues, there is a gap between the guiding and legislative instruments and the reality presented by health establishments. This research aimed to evaluate the Fundação Ezequiel Dias (Brazil) healthcare waste management system, considering the current legislation regarding costs and occupational and environmental safety. Therefore, a survey of data, information and application of a questionnaire to Funed employees was carried out in relation to the research topic. In addition, a survey was carried out with specialists to categorize essential elements for a safe and efficient management system. It was found that Funed has a strategy to minimize the generation of chemical waste that promoted the reuse of 1,075 reagents between 2011 and 2018 and an estimated savings of US$16,700.70. For educational institutions that received reagents by donation from Funed, reuse reached 4,382 reagents with a saving of US$62,633.11. The internal audits carried out annually show a reduction in the number of non-conformities in the areas that generate waste, reaching zero for the requirements for identifying appropriate dumps and packaging containers. The results of the questionnaire indicated that 78% of respondents know Funed's Healthcare Waste Management Plan - HWMP and know where to consult it, which is reinforced by the positive correlation between the variables that evaluated the employees opinion in relation to training, usefulness of the classification system waste at the time of disposal, usefulness of visits to generation sites and quality of waste separation. The results obtained from the experts indicated the following order of prioritization of criteria with their respective weights: Collection and treatment service (13.4%), Best A4 destination (13.3%), HWMP Monitoring (12.7%), Prioritization of operational steps (10.9%), Eco-efficient production (10.7%), Environmental sector (9.6%), Dissemination of information (8.7%), Documents (8.2%), Management (6 .7%), Senior management involvement (5.8%).