| By Sharmain GraingerWhile a health facility is usually validated by the work done by its doctors, nurses and other health professionals, what many of us may not readily recognise is that there are other workers who are crucial to keeping such institutions operational.Sanitation Coordinator, Harif ZakiraAmong these are the maids, the security guards, the porters and even more importantly is a team of people called the “sanitation workers”.If you have been a visitor of the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) a few of them might have unassumingly walked right past you. If you did notice them, you probably would have been in a hurry to get out of their way – after all they have the appearance of mere “sanitation workers” decked in overalls that sometimes amplify the nature of the work being done. The work entails weeding of the compound, cleaning ceilings, and other laborious tasks in and around the health facilityThe work of the “sanitation team” is without doubt very significant. What must be noted too is that it involves an aspect that is especially designed to help protect others from harm.To an outsider this may be far-fetched, but this is indeed the reality. This is in light of the fact that sanitation at the health facility requires the removal of both infectious and non-infectious waste. This means that these workers put themselves at risk to remove infectious waste (sharps such as needles that could transmit diseases) and ensure that they are sterilised before they are disposed of properly and are incapable of transmitting diseases,Deion Sanders Falcons Jersey, even outside of the hospital compound.Now imagine the daunting possibilities if a “sanitation team” were non-existent.It is interesting to note that the majority of these “sanitation workers” are not the normal hearing and speaking individuals like many of us. Close to a dozen of them are deaf-mutes.Deaf-mute is a term which was used historically to identify a person who was either deaf or mute or both, and requires a sign language to communicate.The sanitation team, inclusive of the deaf-mutes, are supervised by Harif Zakira, whose job title is Coordinator of Sanitation and Janitorial Services. He is required to ensure that every aspect of sanitation at the GPHC, and all other facilities that fall under its purview, is in intact.He has been within the employ of the GPHC for the past six years,Jerseys Cheap NFL, but has been directly responsible for the largely deaf-mute sanitation team for the past four years.A few of the deaf-mute members of the sanitation team take timeout for a photo.Among his team members are Rondell Adel,Cheap Jerseys From China, Keith Ritch, and Jerome Collette who intimated by way of signing that they love their job and work very hard because of this very reason.According to Zakira, he has been able to work “especially well with these guys” since they made it their duty to teach him their language from the onset.It has in fact been the deaf-mute members of this team that have kept Zakira, who hails from Mon Repos, East Coast Demerara, to remain dedicated to his job. His dedication translates to working every day, without a day off, by choice.It is not the best of jobs to be had at the institution, but the support is perhaps the best that any unit can boast of, Zakira reflected during a recent interview.Since, as indicated,Wholesale Jerseys, the sanitation work at the hospital entails the removal of waste that is both infectious and non-infectious,Jerseys From China, Zakira said that the team had to learn to differentiate waste by the bags in which they are placed. According to Zakira, red bags are designated for infectious waste while non-infectious waste is placed in black bags. About 300 bags of non-infectious waste are removed from the hospital on a daily basis by the sanitation team.But removing the infectious waste is particularly risky. For instance, these workers are expected to remove needles that would have been used on a person with a contagious disease.Items that have the potential of transmitting diseases are taken to a hydroclave machine at the GPHC on a daily basis to be sterilised. But it isn’t from the public health facilities alone that infectious waste is removed, as according to Zakira, “we collect over 100 bags each week from Woodlands Hospital, from St Joseph Mercy Hospital over a 100 bags…its hundreds of bags of waste we have to sterile every week”.After sterilisation, the waste is disposed at the Haags Bosch dumpsite.Zakira is responsible for the sterilisation process and, according to him, all items are tested to ensure they are completely sterilised before being disposed.Even as he stressed the risk involved with the removal of infectious waste, Zakira recalled at least one occasion when a sanitation worker was pricked with a needle. Of course, prophylaxis treatment was readily available to that worker and is always readily available for such cases, he noted. But given the risk involved in the sanitation process,Brett Hull Red Wings Jersey, Zakira noted that remuneration may not be nearly enough.Added to this, he is appealing for persons to not only recognise the important role of sanitation workers at health facilities, but also seek to be more respectful of them and the work they do. He is convinced that because of the fact that several members of the sanitation team are deaf-mutes they are looked down upon.“I think we should not discriminate, and people do discriminate sometimes, and this should not be,” cautioned Zakira as he emphasised that sanitation is a vital part of the organisation.“If it didn’t exist the hospital will essentially have to shut down,” he underscored. |
