Hygiene knowledge and practices and determinants of occupational safety among waste and sanitation workers in Bangladesh during the COVID-19 pandemic

Mahbub-Ul Alam; Fazle Sharior; Dewan Muhammad Shoaib; Mehedi Hasan; Kazy Farhat Tabassum; Sharika Ferdous; Moushumi Hasan; Mahbubur Rahman; James B Tidwell; Mariam Zaqout; Makfie Farah; Md Azizur Rahman; Alauddin Ahmed; Tanvir Ahmed

doi:10.1016/j.heha.2022.100022

Hygiene knowledge and practices and determinants of occupational safety among waste and sanitation workers in Bangladesh during the COVID-19 pandemic

Hyg Environ Health Adv. 2022 Dec:4:100022. doi: 10.1016/j.heha.2022.100022. Epub 2022 Sep 3.

Authors

Mahbub-Ul Alam^{1

2

3}, Fazle Sharior¹, Dewan Muhammad Shoaib¹, Mehedi Hasan¹, Kazy Farhat Tabassum¹, Sharika Ferdous¹, Moushumi Hasan¹, Mahbubur Rahman¹, James B Tidwell^{4

5}, Mariam Zaqout², Makfie Farah⁶, Md Azizur Rahman⁶, Alauddin Ahmed⁶, Tanvir Ahmed^{6

7}

Affiliations

¹ Environmental Interventions Unit, Infectious Disease Division, International Center for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b), Dhaka 1212, Bangladesh.
² School of Civil Engineering, University of Leeds, Leeds, LS2 9JT, United Kingdom.
³ School of Population and Global Health, University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia.
⁴ Harvard Kennedy School of Government, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
⁵ World Vision, Inc., Washington, DC 20002, USA.
⁶ ITN-BUET: Centre for Water Supply and Waste Management, BUET, Dhaka 1000.
⁷ Department of Civil Engineering, BUET, Dhaka 1000, Bangladesh.

Abstract

Waste and sanitation workers provide essential services to society. In most low-and middle-income countries, they are often mistreated and lack access to necessary personal protective equipment (PPE) and hygiene facilities that ensure occupational safety in workplaces. COVID-19 has also imposed serious health risks upon these worker groups. This study explores factors associated with poor occupational health and safety based on a conceptual framework. We conducted 499 surveys with five categories of waste and sanitation workers across ten cities in Bangladesh. We performed descriptive analysis and used Firth's logistic regression model following the conceptual framework. The analysis revealed consistent distinctions between workers considered to be in "safe" versus "unsafe" working conditions. The result showed that workers had not been adequately trained, not provided with proper equipment, and many had an informal status that prevented access to hygiene facilities. The workers who received occupational training, knew how to prevent COVID-19 by wearing a face mask, hand washing, and maintaining social distance, maintained protective measures, and practiced proper disposing of PPEs were more likely to be in safe condition. Initiatives to improve the situation of the waste workers who work in unsafe work conditions are still inadequate. Therefore, we recommend supplying proper protective equipment, ensuring a regular supply of gender-specific PPEs, and providing functional facilities necessary to practice personal hygiene and occupational safety, such as handwashing stations, changing rooms, and disposal facilities of used PPEs at the workplace. We also urge increased institutional management procedures, infrastructure that facilitates hygiene practices, and social policies to reduce occupational hazards for the waste workers in Bangladesh during and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic.

Keywords: COVID-19; Health risks; Hygiene practice; Occupational safety; Protective measures; Waste and sanitation workers.

Grants and funding

INV-007345/GATES/Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation/United States