Analytical predictive Bayesian assessment of occupational injury risk: municipal solid waste collectors

Impact of extreme temperatures on the performance evaluation of China's work-related injury insurance system

With the influence of climate change resulting in more extreme days, a rise in the number of work-related injuries could be expected. The literature has addressed the performance evaluation of a work-related injury insurance (WII) system via a two-stage structure with input/output correlation as well as the impact of extreme temperatures under different scenarios. This article thus evaluates the performance of a system comprised of operational and service sub-systems under three scenarios of extreme temperatures and proposes a hybrid two-stage dynamic data envelopment analysis (DEA) model with nondiscretionary variables for measuring integrated WII efficiency under the three scenarios. The results are as follows: (1) the poor performance of the operational and service sub-systems leads to the integrated WII system's low efficiency for 30 provinces in China during 2010-2019, except for Zhejiang, Hainan, and Qinghai. (2) Extreme temperatures must be considered when measuring WII efficiency and its stage efficiencies, or otherwise WII efficiency and operational efficiency will be underestimated in 19 provinces. (3) The negative impacts of extreme temperatures on the efficiency of the integrated WII system should be taken notice of, especially for Sichuan.

The Sero-Prevalence of Hepatitis B and C Viruses in Municipal Waste Collectors in Southwest of Iran

Aims

The present study aimed to investigate the frequency of hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) serological markers among waste collectors in the municipality of Shiraz city, southwest of Iran, 2018.

Settings and Design

In this cross-sectional study, a total of 385 waste collectors from all 10 districts of Shiraz city, southwest of Iran were enrolled. A questionnaire was used to gather occupational and demographic information as well as awareness about viral hepatitis.

Methods and Material

Their blood samples were collected, and the sera were investigated for the presence of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), anti-HBs antibody, and anti-HCV antibody using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).

Results

All the participants were men with a mean age of 41 ± 8 years. Out of 385 participants, 6 (1.5%) subjects were positive for HBsAg, indicative of HBV infection. Moreover, 38 (9.9%) had a protective level of anti-HBs antibodies, while more than 90% had a low level of anti-HBs antibodies. All participants were negative for HCV antibodies.

Conclusion

According to these findings, evaluation of HBsAg and anti-HBs levels is recommended in the healthy program of waste collector workers (WCWs). However, this occupation might not be a risk factor for the acquisition of HBV and especially HCV infections.

Deep Learning Models for Health and Safety Risk Prediction in Power Infrastructure Projects

Inappropriate management of health and safety (H&S) risk in power infrastructure projects can result in occupational accidents and equipment damage. Accidents at work have detrimental effects on workers, company, and the general public. Despite the availability of H&S incident data, utilizing them to mitigate accident occurrence effectively is challenging due to inherent limitations of existing data logging methods. In this study, we used a text-mining approach for retrieving meaningful terms from data and develop six deep learning (DL) models for H&S risks management in power infrastructure. The DL models include DNN_classify (risk or no risk), DNN_reg1 (loss time), DNN_reg2 (body injury), DNN_reg3 (plant and fleet), DNN_reg4 (equipment), and DNN_reg5 (environment). An H&S risk database obtained from a leading UK power infrastructure construction company was used in developing the models using the H2O framework of the R language. Performances of DL models were assessed and benchmarked with existing models using test data and appropriate performance metrics. The overall accuracy of the classification model was 0.93. The average R² value for the five regression models was 0.92, with mean absolute error between 0.91 and 0.94. The presented results, in addition to the developed user-interface module, will help practitioners obtain a better understanding of H&S challenges, minimize project costs (such as third-party insurance and equipment repairs), and offer effective strategies to mitigate H&S risk.

Occupational Health Injuries by Job Characteristics and Working Environment among Street Cleaners in South Korea

In 2018, 1822 incidents relating to death or injury occurred among street cleaners in South Korea. However, South Korea currently lacks comprehensive studies on related injuries based on street cleaners’ job characteristics and environments in the country. This study analyzed injuries according to the job characteristics and environment through a survey of 150 Korean street cleaners working in the Seoul and Gyeonggi-do areas. This study assessed three category measures—demographic, job characteristics, and environments—to determine the effects of injuries. The demographic measures consisted of age, gender, and education level. Job characteristic variables consisted of length of time on the job, job contract, monthly income, working hours per day, working start time, overtime per month, and days off per month. For job environments, this survey included job duty, classification, main tasks, work intensity, and safety equipment. The data were analyzed according to descriptive statistics, injury ratio, and Probit regression analysis. The results of the analysis demonstrated that the participants with the highest risk of injury were mostly males with less than a middle school education. Assessment of the job characteristics showed that the most prevalent length of working experience was less than 5 years, with most engaging in contract/day work. A share of 36.67% of the participants reported injuries. The most prevalent reason for injury was overwork (32.73%), and the most frequent injury area was the lower back (49.09%). In summary, injuries among street cleaners were associated with education level, job experience, days off from work, and work intensity. As such, street cleaners should receive more education to decrease the risk of injuries, regardless of the number of employees or their contract status.

Multiple morbidities and health conditions of waste-loaders in Mumbai: A study of the burden of disease and health expenditure

Study assesses the effects of solid-waste loading on workers, the resultant development of occupational morbidities, and economic burden of these morbidities. A cross-sectional survey was conducted with 360 municipal workers from six of 24 municipal wards in Mumbai. The nearest neighborhood method of Propensity Score Matching (PSM) examined the impact of waste-loading on the development of morbidities and to identify the risk factors - multiple logistic regression analysis was performed. The prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs), injury, eye and skin infections found significantly higher for waste-loaders compared to comparison group. The PSM method revealed that the occupation of waste-loading significantly raised the risk of injury (34%), MSDs (23%), eye (19%), skin infection (15%) and disability (15%), compared to comparison group. Significantly higher health expenditure is observed among waste-loaders who have sought treatment in private health facility than public. The study recommends to offer assistance the medical insurance for reducing the financial burden on waste-loaders.

Work-related stress levels and musculoskeletal disorders among municipal solid waste collectors in Ankara

BACKGROUND

Industrialization and rising standards of living have contributed to a growing amount of solid waste and consequent disposal problems. Solid waste collection is among the occupations with the highest risk for musculoskeletal disorders.

OBJECTIVE

We have conducted this study to assess musculoskeletal complaints and work-related stress levels among municipal solid waste (MSW) collectors.

METHODS

The subjects were all currently employed at the MSW Department of the City of Ankara, Turkey. Validated questionnaires were completed by 267 MSW collectors. Data analysis was performed using SPSS software (22.0 version).

RESULTS

Upper back pain rate was 89.1% among the collectors. 47.9% of collectors reported having had upper back pain during the last 12 months and 38.7% had experienced it during the last month. 80.9% of the sample complained of shoulder pain. Wrists/hands and neck pain rates were found at rates of 78.7% and 67.8% respectively. Psychological demands, were significantly higher among MSW collectors living with moderate-severe pain.

CONCLUSIONS

Ergonomics education, healthy work habits, occupational safety training and improvements in the psychosocial work environment should be considered.

Assessment of work-related accidents associated with waste handling in Belo Horizonte (Brazil)

As more urban solid waste is generated, managing it becomes ever more challenging and the potential impacts on the environment and human health also become greater. Handling waste - including collection, treatment and final disposal - entails risks of work accidents. This article assesses the perception of waste management workers regarding work-related accidents in domestic and health service contexts in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. These perceptions are compared with national data from the Ministry of Social Security on accidents involving workers in solid waste management. A high proportion of accidents involves cuts and puncture injuries; 53.9% among workers exposed to domestic waste and 75% among those exposed to health service waste. Muscular lesions and fractures accounted for 25.7% and 12.5% of accidents, respectively. Data from the Ministry of Social Security diverge from the local survey results, presumably owing to under-reporting, which is frequent in this sector. Greater commitment is needed from managers and supervisory entities to ensure that effective measures are taken to protect workers' health and quality of life. Moreover, workers should defend their right to demand an accurate registry of accidents to complement monitoring performed by health professionals trained in risk identification. This would contribute to the improved recovery of injured workers and would require managers in waste management to prepare effective preventive action.

Land application of manure and Class B biosolids: an occupational and public quantitative microbial risk assessment

Land application is a practical use of municipal Class B biosolids and manure that also promotes soil fertility and productivity. To date, no study exists comparing biosolids to manure microbial risks. This study used quantitative microbial risk assessment to estimate pathogen risks from occupational and public exposures during scenarios involving fomite, soil, crop, and aerosol exposures. Greatest one-time risks were from direct consumption of contaminated soil or exposure to fomites, with one-time risks greater than 10. Recent contamination and high exposures doses increased most risks. and enteric viruses provided the greatest single risks for most scenarios, particularly in the short term. All pathogen risks were decreased with time, 1 d to14 mo between land application and exposure; decreases in risk were typically over six orders of magnitude beyond 30 d. Nearly all risks were reduced to below 10 when using a 4-mo harvest delay for crop consumption. Occupational, more direct risks were greater than indirect public risks, which often occur after time and dilution have reduced pathogen loads to tolerable levels. Comparison of risks by pathogen group confirmed greater bacterial risks from manure, whereas viral risks were exclusive to biosolids. A direct comparison of the two residual types showed that biosolids use had greater risk because of the high infectivity of viruses, whereas the presence of environmentally recalcitrant pathogens such as and maintained manure risk. Direct comparisons of shared pathogens resulted in greater manure risks. Overall, it appears that in the short term, risks were high for both types of residuals, but given treatment, attenuation, and dilution, risks can be reduced to near-insignificant levels. That being said, limited data sets, dose exposures, site-specific inactivation rates, pathogen spikes, environmental change, regrowth, and wildlife will increase risk and uncertainty and remain areas poorly understood.

Injuries among solid waste collectors in the private versus public sectors

Solid waste collection is among the occupations with the highest risk for injuries and illnesses. Solid waste collector injuries were characterized in terms of injury risk and employment industry sector (public versus private) using Kentucky workers' compensation first reports of injury and claims data. When compared to 35-44-year-old workers, solid waste collectors who were under 35 years of age were less likely to have a workers' compensation first report of injury or claim that resulted in awarded benefits. The probability that a workers' compensation first report of injury or claim would result in an awarded benefit was higher if the worker was employed as a solid waste collector in the private sector compared to the public sector, or was injured due to a motor vehicle-related injury or a push-or-pull type of injury. A better understanding of the differences in the contributing factors for an injury that results in a first report of injury or claim with awarded benefits (e.g., job activities, new and refresher worker safety training, type of equipment used, differences in collection vehicle automation, and differential reporting of injuries on the job) between the public and private sectors is necessary to target injury prevention strategies in this high-risk occupation.

Health and safety in waste collection: Towards evidence-based worker health surveillance

BACKGROUND

Waste collectors around the world are at risk for work-related disorders and injuries. The aim of this study was to assess work demands, acute physiologic responses, illnesses, and injuries as a starting point for worker health surveillance (WHS).

METHODS

A systematic search was performed in PubMed and Embase on work demands, acute bodily responses, health, and injuries. A quality assessment and evidence synthesis was performed.

RESULTS

From a total of 379 retrieved studies, 50 studies fulfilled the inclusion criteria. Waste collecting varied from informal manual gathering to semi-automated systems. Most studies ("number of studies") on work demands and/or acute bodily responses addressed bioaerosols (14). Studies of health effects addressed respiratory complaints (8), and those on injuries addressed acute musculoskeletal disorders (3). Strong evidence is available that exposure to bioaerosols exceeds recommendations. Moderate evidence is available for an increased risk of respiratory complaints and musculoskeletal injuries, with significant odds ratios reported varying between 1.9-4.1 and 1.5-3.3, respectively. Limited evidence exists for gastrointestinal disorders and hearing loss.

CONCLUSIONS

WHS in waste collection is warranted for early detection of respiratory, gastrointestinal, and musculoskeletal disorders, and hearing loss.