Protecting Wastewater Workers by Categorizing Risks of Pathogen Exposures by Splash and Fecal-Oral Transmission during Routine Tasks

Rasha Maal-Bared ()
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Rasha Maal-Bared: Quality Assurance and Environment, EPCOR Water Services Inc., EPCOR Tower, 2000, 10423-101 Street NW, Edmonton, AB T5H 0E8, Canada

Waste, 2022, vol. 1, issue 1, 1-10

Abstract: Quantitative microbial risk assessments (QMRAs) present an opportunity to systematically assess risk to wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) workers and mitigate work-related infectious diseases. However, while QMRAs often explore the impacts of aeration or treatment mechanism, or the use of controls to mitigate risk (e.g., ventilation, personal protective equipment (PPE)), fewer studies address other variables, such as differing tasks across plants, time spent conducting these tasks or size of plant. QMRA approaches also vary substantially in their findings and recommendations. The objective of this paper is to provide a risk-based wastewater worker task characterization for urban, municipal and industrial WWTPs along with mitigation measures. Routine tasks fell into five categories in ascending order of exposure and risk, Type A being the lowest and Type E being the highest. Percentage of full-time equivalent time spent on each task category was estimated, along with amount of wastewater exposure (mL) and inhalation duration (h). Estimates differed between urban and municipal plants but were similar in industrial and municipal systems. Finally, a checklist was developed to identify potential mitigation measures and prioritize H&S solutions for eight inspected WWTPs. The present work provides practical information for job safety assessments, H&S policies and QMRA method refinement.

Keywords: biohazards; risk; exposure assessment; QMRA; pathogens; health and safety; occupational health protection; wastewater workers (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q16 Q18 Q2 Q20 Q23 Q24 Q25 Q28 Q3 Q31 Q38 Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jwaste:v:1:y:2022:i:1:p:7-104:d:987309

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