Risks inherent to work environment of formal and informal recyclable material collectors

Abstract

This work aimed at analyzing comparatively the occupational risks to which, the recyclable material collectors are submitted while working cooperatively or informally, in Campina Grande, Paraíba, Brazil. The participant survey was conducted from March 2012 to December 2013 with 11 recyclable material collectors, seven of them organized in an Association, ARENSA (Association of Collectors of Recyclable Materials of Nossa Senhora Aparecida Community) and four of them working informally. The chosen groups reside in the same neighborhood, Tambor. The investigated occupational risks were chemical, physical, biological and ergonomic. It was found that garbage collectors are submitted daily, in their work routines, to different occupational risks. Among them are exposure to noise, vibration, solar radiation, temperature change, direct and indirect contact with chemical materials such as solvents and liquids that leak from batteries, exposure to pathogenic organisms contained in organic, sanitary and health service waste. They perform heavy physical exertion during collection and transport of recyclable materials in a work day that exceeds eight hours. However, the risks are intensified among informal recyclable material collectors. Among other factors, lack of training, not receiving selected and sanitized waste from its source, maintaining direct contact with other types of waste (organic, sanitary and health services waste), worsened by the absence of Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) during work activities. It follows that there is a relation between the organization of associated recyclable material collectors and the reduction of risks inherent to the profession when compared to informal workers. However, associated recyclable material collectors are not exempt from these risks, which require more effective public policies, especially relating to Integrated Solid Waste Management.