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.
ABNT (2004). NBR 10.004: Resíduos Sólidos: Classificação [Solid Waste: Classification]. Rio de Janeiro: Associação Brasileira de Normas Técnicas.
2.
AgrestiA (2003) Categorical Data Analysis. 2nd ed.Gainesville, Florida: Wiley.
3.
AnHEnglehardtJFlemingLet al. (1999) Occupational health and safety amongst municipal solid waste workers in Florida. Waste Management & Research17: 369–377.
4.
AnagawBShiferawYBelyhunYet al. (2012) Seroprevalence of hepatitis B and C viruses among medical waste handlers at Gondar town Health institutions, Northwest Ethiopia. BMC Research Notes5: 55.
5.
AthanasiouMMakrynosGDouniasG (2010) Respiratory health of municipal solid waste workers. Occupational Medicine60: 618–23.
6.
BastaniMCelikN (2015) Assessment of occupational safety risks in Floridian solid waste systems using Bayesian analysis. Waste Management & Research33: 894–907.
7.
BinderMCPCordeiroR (2003) Sub-registro de acidentes do trabalho em localidade do Estado de São Paulo, 1997. [Under registration of occupational accidents in Brazil, 1997] Revista de Saúde Pública37: 409–416.
8.
BlenkharnJIOddC (2008) Sharps injuries in healthcare waste handlers. Annals of Occupational Hygiene52: 281–286.
9.
BorgesLOCostaMTPFilhoAAet al. (2013) Questionário de condições de trabalho: Reelaboração e estruturas fatoriais em grupos ocupacionais. [Questionnaire of work condition: Elaboration and factorial structure in occupational groups] Avaliação Psicológica12: 213–225.
10.
Brasil (2005) Norma Regulamentadora NR 32, Ministério do Trabalho e Emprego. Dispõe sobre a segurança no trabalho em serviços de saúde [Brazilian rule about work safety in health services]. Diário Oficial da União, Brasília.
11.
Brasil (2015) Aeps InfoLogo – Base de dados históricos da previdência social [Database of historical social security]. Ministério da Previdência Social. Available at: http://www3.dataprev.gov.br/infologo/inicio.htm (accessed 23 September 2015).
12.
ChiodiMBMarzialeMHPMondadoriRMet al. (2010) Acidentes registrados no centro de referência em saúde do trabalhador de Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo [Accidents reported at the Workers’ Reference Center in Ribeirão Preto, Southeastern Brazil]. Revista Gaúcha de Enfermagem.31: 211–217.
13.
CorreaPRLAssunçãoAA (2003) A subnotificação de mortes por acidente de trabalho: Estudo de três bancos de dados [Under notification of death for work accident: Study of three databases]. Epidemiologia e Serviço de Saúde12: 203–212.
14.
CostaMA (2007) Condições de trabalho dos coletores de lixo domiciliar, no município do Rio de Janeiro [Conditions of work of the domiciliary garbage collectors, in the city of Rio de Janeiro]. 150f. Dissertação de Mestrado em Engenharia Ambiental do Departamento de Engenharia Sanitária e do Meio Ambiente. Rio de Janeiro: Universidade Estadual Rio de Janeiro.
15.
DeanAGSullivanKMSoeMM (2013) OpenEpi: Open source epidemiologic statistics for public health. Available at: www.OpenEpi.com (accessed 11 November 2013).
16.
DiasMACMachadoAASantosBMO (2012) Acidentes ocupacionais com exposição a material biológico: Retrato de uma realidade [Occupational injury involving exposure to biological fluids: A portrait of reality]. Revista da Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirão Preto e do Hospital das Clínicas da FMRP45: 12–22.
17.
DomingoJLNadalM (2009) Domestic waste composting facilities: A review of human health risks. Environment International35: 382–389.
18.
EnglehardtJDAnHFlemingLEet al. (2003) Analytical predictive Bayesian assessment of occupational injury risk: Municipal solid waste collectors. Risk Analysis23: 917–927.
19.
FerreiraJAAnjosLA (2001) Aspectos de saúde coletiva e ocupacional associados à gestão dos resíduos sólidos municipais [Public and occupational health issues related to municipal solid waste management]. Cadernos de Saúde Pública17: 689–696.
20.
GiancottiGMHaeffnerRSolheidNLSet al. (2014) Caracterização das vítimas e dos acidentes de trabalho com material biológico atendidas em um hospital público do Paraná, 2012 [Characterization of accidents at work with biological material and their victims treated at a public hospital in Paraná, Brazil, 2012]. Epidemiologia e Serviços de Saúde23: 337–346.
21.
GuilardeAOOliveiraAMTassaraMet al. (2010) Acidentes com material biológico entre profissionais de hospital universitário em Goiânia [Accidents with biological material among professionals working in an university Hospital in Goiania, Brazil]. Revista Patologia Tropical39: 131–136.
22.
LazzariMAReisCB (2011) Os coletores de lixo urbano no município de Dourados (MS) e sua percepção sobre os riscos biológicos em seu processo de trabalho [The perception of urban garbage collectors of Dourados, in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul, regarding the biological risks involved in their work routine]. Ciência & Saúde Coletiva16: 3437–3442.
23.
LimaLMOliveiraCCRodriguesKMR (2011) Exposição ocupacional por material biológico no Hospital Santa Casa de Pelotas – 2004 a 2008 [Occupational exposure to biological material at the Hospital Santa Casa de Pelotas – 2004 to 2008]. Escola Anna Nery15: 96–102.
24.
LuksamijarulkulPSujiraratDCharupoonpholP (2008) Risk behaviors, occupational risk and seroprevalence of hepatitis B and A infections among public cleansing workers of Bangkok Metropolis. Hepatitis Monthly8: 35–40.
25.
MachadoMRMMachadoFA (2011) Acidentes com material biológico em trabalhadores de enfermagem do Hospital Geral de Palmas (TO) [Work-related accidents with biological material among nursing staff from General Hospital in Palmas, state of Tocantins, Brazil]. Revista Brasileira de Saúde Ocupacional36: 274–281.
26.
OliveiraMG (2007) Características organizacionais e acidentes ocupacionais em empresas de limpeza urbana em Salvador-BA [Organizational characteristics of urban waste management companies in Salvador as they relate to the control and prevention of occupational accidents]. 105f. Tese de Doutorado, Instituto de Saúde Coletiva. Salvador: Universidade Federal da Bahia.
27.
ÖzdelikaraATanM (2012) Conditions in which nurses are exposed to the hepatitis viruses and precautions taken for prevention. Australian Journal of Advanced Nursing30: 33–39.
28.
PortaDMilaniSLazzarinoAIet al. (2009) Systematic review of epidemiological studies on health effects associated with management of solid waste. Environmental Health8: 60.
29.
PoulsenOMBreumNOEbbehojNet al. (1995) Collection of domestic waste. Review of occupational health problems and their possible causes. The Science of the Total Environment170: 1–19.
30.
RachiotisGPapagiannisDMarkasDet al. (2012) Hepatitis B virus infection and waste collection: Prevalence, risk factors, and infection pathway. American Journal of Industrial Medicine55: 650–655.
31.
RushtonL (2003) Health hazards and waste management. British Medical Bulletin68: 183–197.
32.
SantosGMSilvaLFF (2011) Os significados do lixo para garis e catadores de Fortaleza (CE, Brasil) [What garbage represents for municipal collectors and recyclers in Fortaleza, State of Ceará (Brazil)]. Ciência & Saúde Coletiva16: 3413–3419.
33.
SattarSATetroJSpringthorpeVSet al. (2001) Preventing the spread of hepatitis B and C viruses: Where are germicides relevant?American Journal of Infection Control29: 187–197.
34.
ShiferawYAbebeTMihretA (2011) Hepatitis B virus infection among medical waste handlers in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. BMC Research Notes4: 479.
35.
SilvaDFSperlingEVBarrosRTV (2014) Avaliação do gerenciamento dos resíduos de serviços de saúde em municípios da região metropolitana de Belo Horizonte (Brasil) [Evaluation of health care wastes management in the metropolitan region of Belo Horizonte (Brazil)]. Engenharia Sanitária e Ambiental19: 251–262.
36.
TsoviliERachiotisGSymvoulakisEKet al. (2014) Municipal waste collectors and hepatitis B and C virus infection: A cross-sectional study. Le Infezioni in Medicina4: 271–276.
37.
VellosoMPSantosEMAnjosLA (1997) Processo de trabalho e acidentes de trabalho em coletores de lixo domiciliar na cidade do Rio de Janeiro, Brasil [The labor process and work-related accidents among garbage collectors in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil]. Cadernos de Saúde Pública13: 693–700.
38.
VieiraMPadilhaMIPinheiroRDC (2011) Análise dos acidentes com material biológico em trabalhadores da saúde [Analysis of accidents with organic material in health workers]. Revista Latino-Americana de Enfermagem19: 2.
39.
WoutersIMSpaanSDouwesJet al. (2006) Overview of personal occupational exposure levels to inhalable dust, endotoxin, β(1→3)-glucan and fungal extracellular polysaccharides in the waste management chain. Annals of Occupational Hygiene50: 39–53.
