Occupational Hazards and Preventive Measures Among Waste Collection Workers

Abstract

Background: Waste collection is a necessary activity all around the world. Fortunately for the health and living conditions of inhabitants, waste collection workers risk to disease resulting from exposure to various work hazards fatal and non-fatal occupational accidents. The aim of the study is to assess the occupational hazards and preventive measures among waste collection workers (WCWs) through :a) Assessing the WCWs knowledge regarding hazards of waste collection; b) Determining the WCWs knowledge regarding health related preventive measures; c) Determining the knowledge of the WCWs knowledge regarding health related preventive measures; and d) Identify the community health services provided for the WCWs .Design: A descriptive design was adopted in the study. Settings: all five zones of Suez Governorate through the General Authority for Cleanliness and Beauty (GACB). Sample: A purposive sample was used; it included 95 from formal WCWs. Tools: two tools were used for collected data. First tool: An interview questionnaire used to collect data from waste collection workers related to demographic data, work characteristics, medical history and waste collection workers habits. Knowledge of the waste collection workers regarding types of occupational hazards, preventive measures, Second tool: Observational check list adopted from Kawakami (2010) and modified by the investigator to assess the waste collection worker's practices regarding the preventive measures, Results: Findings reported that 45.3 % of the WCWs' knowledge was unsatisfactory about the hazards of waste collection. Statistically Significant relation was found among knowledge and practices of WCWs 69.5% of their practices was unsafe. Conclusion: around half the WCWs had satisfactory level of knowledge and two third of them had unsafe level of practice. Hence, it was recommended to provide occupational health program training for the WCWs and provide appropriate protection devices and tools.