RR1151 - Dust and bioaerosol exposure at municipal waste handling sites
Improvements in health and safety performance in the waste sector are a priority for HSE. Government targets to reduce the amount of waste that goes to landfill have led to an increase in processing of municipal waste to reclaim recyclable material and produce biomass fuel for energy. The collection, separation and composting of municipal waste generates organic dust and bioaerosols which may cause occupational health problems if worker exposure is not effectively controlled.
This report describes research to improve understanding of the risks to workers’ health during bulk handling of organic waste at waste transfer stations, mechanical and biological treatment plants and energy from waste power stations. To highlight what control standards are achievable, only companies recognised as employing good health risk management practices were recruited for this study. Data was obtained during 13 site visits by a combination of work task observations and dust and bioaerosol sampling.
At some facilities, such as energy from waste plants, dust levels were high, but worker exposures were generally relatively low because of segregation. In other facilities, three activities did pose a risk of higher exposure to dust, endotoxin, fungi and bacteria: (i) cleaning and maintenance, (ii) sorting and refining after bio-drying: and (iii) hand sorting recovered dry cell batteries. Advances in plant and process design have helped to minimise the number of workers exposed and to improve exposure control. However, further improvements can be made, particularly in the design of engineering controls to prevent spillages and subsequent exposure, and in methods to minimise exposure during cleaning and maintenance activities.
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