DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF A COMPUTERISED BILL OF MATERIAL PROCESSING PROJECT

 CHAPTER ONE

1.0 INTRODUCTION

Material Procurement can be defined as the purchase of goods or services at a total cost of the optimum possible in the correct amount and quality of procurement. These goods and services are also purchased at the right time and location to express profit or the use of Government, business, business, or individuals by signing a contract.

The process of acquisition of goods or services that are required as a raw material (direct procurement) or for operating purposes (indirect procurement) a company or a person might call acquisition. The procurement process involves not only the purchase of commodities, but also the quality and quantity of controls. Typically, providers are listed and pre-determined by the contracting company. This makes the smoother process, the promotion of a good relationship between the buyer and the supplier.

The synonyms for procurement, which are the gain, purchase, and acquire, can shed light on the meaning of procurement. The procurement process may vary from company to company, and a Government entity can have a slightly different procurement process compared to a private company.

Acquisitions can also be defined simply as the procedure in which the goods or raw materials are purchased when prices are low. Procurement is advantageous if the goods are purchased in large quantities. E-procurement is another method 2

of electronic media is used for the acquisition or purchase of goods. Everything is processed electronically, the search for the right bidder delivery and payment.

The procurement procedure may vary depending on the product and the uses of the product. Health team must be efficient and reliable, and the procurement process is carried out carefully in order prevent the defective equipment purchase. Another important factor that usually includes definitions of the procurement is the amount purchased the product. This is important because the quantity of purchased goods is inversely proportional to their cost.

Thus, acquisition is a process that is carried out by the company almost every individual and for their own personal benefit or benefits, involving the purchase of commodities by choosing the appropriate provider.

1.1 Statement of the Problem

Most company’s are suffering some set backs due to their procurement system. Most often low quality goods are purchased and they end up loosing money. Also at times, they lack a steady supply, resulting to lack of materials for production, hence the need for computerization of bill of material processing system.

You May Also Like

KNOWLEDGE, PERCEPTION AND STANDARD PRECAUTION AMONG HEALTH WORKERS IN NIGERIA

The Blood-borne pathogens standard allows for hospitals to use acceptable alternatives to universal precautions.69 Alternative/concepts in infection control are called Body Substance Isolation (BSI) and standard precautions.69 These methods define all body fluids and substances as infectious.69  These methods incorporate not only the fluids and materials covered by the blood borne pathogens standard but expands coverage to include all body fluids and substances.69 These concepts are acceptable alternatives to universal precautions, provided that facilities utilizing them adhere to all other provisions of the standard.69 For compliance with OSHA standards, the use of either universal precautions or standard precautions are acceptable.69 Since it is not feasible or cost-effective to test all patients for all pathogens prior to giving care, and identification of patients infected with blood borne pathogens cannot be reliably made through medical history and physical examination, standard precautions are therefore recommended for use on all patients by the United states Centres for Disease Control (CDC), regardless of diagnosis and treatment setting.70, 71Statement of the Problem Healthcare workers (HCWs) are at risk of occupational hazards as they perform their clinical activities in the hospital.72  The occupational health of the health care workforce of about 35 million people representing about 12% of the working population has been neglected.72  They are exposed to blood borne infections by pathogens such as HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C viruses, from sharps injuries and contacts with deep body fluids.4, 5, 58 In an era of HIV epidemic in sub-Saharan Africa,73 this occupational risk is real and significant.  It has been found that the risk of transmission of HIV/AIDS via needle stick incidents is                  0.3 %;4,15,27,29;  i.e, 1 case per 300 needle stick incidents.    The Occupational Safety and Health Administration estimates that 5.6 million HCWs worldwide who handle sharp devices, are at risk of occupational exposure to blood borne pathogens.74  These injuries are usually under-reported for so many reasons such as stigmatization, should HIV result from such incidents.15 The sero-prevalence of HIV varies widely from country to country and from one region to another within the same country.75  Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has the highest HIV sero-prevalence in the world.75 The 2005 sero-sentinel survey conducted in Nigeria reported an overall HIV sero-prevalence of 4.4%.75 This high prevalence in the country poses an occupational risk to HCWs.  HIV/AIDS constitutes a major health problem in Nigeria.76 Nigeria is one of the countries worst hit by the HIV/AIDS epidemic, with about 2.99 million people currently infected.76  Over a million people (» 1.70 million) have already died from AIDS76 since it was first reported and confirmed in Nigeria in 1986.77 The health consequences of these infections are enormous; symptoms of HCV infection may not manifest until 20-30 years after viral transmission.78 Also, about 60-85% of HCV infections result in liver cirrhosis and liver cancer.61 There is no immunization for HCV and HIV, it becomes important to prevent infection by preventing exposure.7  The rising prevalence of morbidity and mortality following exposure to blood borne infections is due to the lack of knowledge, wrong attitude towards and non-compliance to standard precautions as well as bad practices such as bending of needles, recapping of needles, detachment of needles, reuse of needles and lack of adequate sharps containers and disposal facilities, shortage of supply of injection equipment and unwarranted and unsafe use of injections, that put both patients and HCWs at risk of occupational exposure.  The improper disposal of used sharps and needles is known to cause needle stick injuries.81 WHO estimates that annually, 16 billion injections are given each year in developing and transitional countries with an annual mean 1.5 injections per person per year.17  70 to 99% of these injections are unnecessary, while 50% are unsafe in 14 of 19 countries in five developing world regions with data.18,19,20  In Nigeria, the annual mean was found to be 4.9 injections per person per year.21  The socio-economic and psychological burden of unsafe injections occur at individual, family, community and national levels.  It is estimated that each year, the annual global burden of indirect medical cost due to hepatitis B and C and HIV/AIDS is estimated to be US $535 million.83 Globally, in 2000, unsafe injection was responsible for an estimated 21 million cases of Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection, 2 million cases of Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection and 260,000 cases of HIV infection, making up 32%, 40% and 5% of infections due to unsafe injection practices respectively.84 It is estimated that 9.18 million DALYs would be lost between 2010 and 2030 although interventions implemented in the year 2000 for the safe and appropriate use of injections could reduce it. 22, 84 WHO estimates that 501,000 deaths have occurred because of unsafe injection practices.84These deaths could have been prevented by injection safety practices, which is an element of standard precautions, an integral component of infection prevention and control as well as a key element of health care worker safety. Such deaths involving members of the family especially the bread winners could lead to sorrow and poverty for many families.  Also, the rising prevalence of morbidity and mortality from these blood-borne infections can cause absenteeism from work, use of huge sums of money for treatment, reduced worker effect and decreased productivity, which will affect the economy adversely. In spite of the risk HCWs are exposed to, studies have extensively reported sub-optimal and non-uniform adherence to standard precautions by HCWs in both developed and developing countries. 12, 55, 65, 66  For instance, in a study done in Benin City, only 34.2% of nurses had heard of universal precautions,85 and in another study done in South East Nigeria, only 15.2% of Doctors had good practice of standard precautions.7 Compliance with these universal precautions has been shown to reduce the risk of exposure to blood and body fluids.64  However, it is known that these preventive strategies are mostly not implemented fully and/or compromised in the health care systems of most developing countries.25,33,61,86,87,88  Standard precautions is practiced in high income countries to protect HCWs from occupational exposure to blood and the consequent risk of infection with blood-borne pathogens, but the situation is different in low income countries, where standard precautions are partially practiced.65   Occupational safety of HCWs is often neglected in low income countries in spite of the greater risk of infection due to higher disease prevalence, low level awareness of the risks associated with occupational exposure to blood, inadequate supply of personal protective equipment (PPE), and limited organizational support for safe practices.33 Efforts to reduce population levels of infections such as hepatitis and HIV are important goals.  Identified and similar problems exist in Central Hospital, Warri, other health establishments in Delta State as well as other states.  However, the knowledge, attitude and practice of standard precautions among HCWs in Central Hospital, Warri, have not been assessed before.Justification for the Study On the whole, available data show that needle stick injuries and blood borne pathogens are serious threats to patients, HCWs and to the host community.  The rising prevalence of morbidity and mortality as a result of nosocomial and blood borne infections such as HIV/AIDS, HBV and HCV among others is as a result of lack of awareness, wrong attitude towards and non-compliance with the definitions and recommendations of standard precautions.  Compliance with standard precautions has been shown to reduce risk of exposure to blood and body fluids.64 Due to this, surveillance of HCWs’ compliance to standard precautions is an important element of occupational and nosocomial infection control as it enables assessment of risks from occupation exposure to infection.89 This study will expose the level of awareness, attitude and practice of standard precautions among the HCWs and hence could be used as a baseline for intervention.  It will also identify gaps which would be recommended for correction through interventions.  This study could be used to monitor trends of events concerning knowledge, attitude and practice of standard precautions among health care workers in Central Hospital, Warri, by reviewing from time to time, the incidence of needle stick injuries and the morbidity and mortality pattern.  It will also identify gaps in the standard precaution practices among these HCWs and the results from the study will be used for the planning of health education intervention programme.  It will also provide reference material for the academic society as well as further research.1.2   AIMS AND OBJECTIVESGeneral Aim The general objective is to assess the knowledge, perception and practice of standard precautions among health care workers in Central Hospital, Warri, Delta State.Specific Objectives
Read More