The influence on organizational factors of medical waste management practices among Libyan hospitals

In examining the influence of the organizational structure and culture on the medical waste management practice (MWMP) among public hospitals in Libya, this paper depicts a theoretical view to develop several corresponding hypotheses, with the two organizational factors (structure and culture) proposed to draw their effect upon hospital groups who are in charge of medical waste. Therefore, this paper examines the direct relationship between independent variables (structure and culture) and the dependent variable (MWMP). In doing so, previous research noticed that certain organizational factors such as (structure and culture) do influence waste management at the hospitals. Our finding shows that there are some inconsistent findings. We used the questionnaire design to gather the data from the surveyed hospitals located in the southern part of Libya. A total of 210 questionnaires were distributed and 171 usable responses were received, yielding 70% response rate. The two dimensions of the structure examined in this research (centralization and formalization) are found to have a positive relationship and significant influence on the management practice of medical waste. Moreover, the relationship between the organizational culture and MWMP is positive. The findings obtained from this research suggest that in order to improve MWMP among the public hospitals in Libya, nurses and cleaners should consider the structure dimension such as formalization seriously. We seek for our findings to be able to enhance the way medical waste is handled in the Libyan hospitals and complement the existing body of knowledge as well as to contribute to future studies in regards.