90% ‘waste workers’ in city suffer injuries, finds study

Charu Chhibber

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 28

Over 90 per cent “waste workers” in Chandigarh suffer injuries while 43 per cent suffer from various respiratory problems as more than 90 per cent of them do not use any type of protective gear. Not only this, only 65 per cent waste workers working in the formal sector receive treatment from civil hospitals or dispensaries while those engaged in the informal sector do not use medical facilities and prefer home remedies instead as they have to spend their own money for treatment in the absence of a proper policy to provide them medical aid.

This has been revealed by a study conducted on waste workers handling municipal solid waste in the city by Dr Ravindra Khaiwal from the School of Public Health, PGI, and Dr Kamalpreet Kaur and Dr Suman Mor from the Department of Environment Studies, Panjab University.

The study has raised several serious health concerns owing to occupational risks faced by municipal solid waste (MSW) workers involved in street sweeping, waste collection, waste processing and rag picking.

Giving details, Dr Mor says, “Hazardous material is often found mixed with MSW and includes discarded medicines, soiled bandages, dead animals, sharps, paints and batteries, including sharp items, for example razor blades, glass cullets and metal pieces.”

She further adds that rag pickers and waste collectors remain in direct contact with the MSW, but use no protective gear. “It was observed that over 90 per cent waste workers do not use any type of protective gear while handling the MSW. The absence of protective gear makes waste workers vulnerable to injuries from glass pieces, used needles and metals,” says Dr Khaiwal.

Dr Mor adds, “The study has found that there is a need to safeguard them through formulation of new policies.”