An Occupational Risk Analysis of Garbage Collection Tasks in the Philippines

Waste management entails proper handling of material waste in accordance with the local environmental regulatory framework from collection, transportation, dumping and recycling along with other waste product monitoring and regulation measures. Because waste collection and disposal involves various processes, the tasks of garbage collectors are faced with numerous occupational risks. Several studies and researches have been developed regarding the potential risk of improper disposal of waste to the environment and to the general public, however, the occupational risks associated with the garbage collection tasks received little attention. Thus, this study aims to identify and assess the occupational risks associated with the tasks of garbage collectors in the Philippines in order to develop a mitigation plan that would minimize the occupational risks associated with this field of work. A multimethod qualitative and quantitative research design were applied in this study. The qualitative design helped in identifying and investigating the occupational injuries and work-musculoskeletal disorders (WMSD) experienced by garbage collectors using survey questionnaire and Cornell Musculoskeletal Disorder Questionnaire (CMDQ). Key findings from the study revealed that workers were often exposed to injuries such as light wound and cut, insect bites, eye irritation, sprain and rashes. This is because garbage collectors in the country have inadequate and improper personal protective equipment when performing their tasks like lack of gloves, facemasks, goggles, safety shoes and coveralls. Similarly, workers also complained of over fatigue and pain in their lower back, shoulder, hips, thigh and other WMSD due to heavy manual handling tasks in garbage collection activities. Using ergonomic tools such as Rapid Entire Body Assessment (REBA) and NIOSH Lifting Equation, the researchers were able to identify and categorized three risk factors associated with garbage collection tasks such as (1) health factor, (2) environmental factor and (3) task related factor. These factors were further treated analyzed using quantitative research design method such as correlation and regression analysis. The result of statistical analysis revealed that factors such as worker's age, BMI, exposure to noise, illumination, heat index, task duration, task frequency, time of day and weather condition significantly affect the risks of workers in developing occupational injuries and work musculoskeletal disorders. Given these conditions, the researchers were able to come up with a risk mitigation plan based from the predictive model developed from regression analysis in order to minimize the occupational risks of garbage collectors in the Philippines.