Assessment of Health and Safety Risk Among Waste Scavengers in Enugu State, Nigeria

One of the most dangerous and dehumanizing activity in many developing countries is waste scavenging, an act of selecting possible useful or materials from waste materials especially at waste dump sites for purposes of making a living. This act exposes waste scavengers to several occupational health risks and hazards ranging from cuts, needle stick injury, and exposure to particulate matter, disease causing organisms, contaminated food and water, unhygienic working environment, among other health hazards. In Nigeria, population growth has resulted in an uncontrolled increase in waste creation, making it impossible for waste management organizations in various states to cope. Thus, increasing the number of waste scavengers who use waste picking as a daily source of income and a routine vocation to reduce the unemployment gap. This study was therefore performed to assess health and safety risk among waste scavengers in Enugu state, Nigeria with a view to identifying health conditions associated with waste scavengers in the state. This research adopted a descriptive cross-sectional approach in sampling 396 wastes scavengers across the three senatorial districts of Enugu state. A multistage and random sampling technique with instruments of questionnaires as well as risk assessments of the dumpsites were used to achieve the research objectives. Findings revealed that most of the respondents were exposed to all types of hazards with (79.8%) prevalence of physical hazard, (52.3%) prevalence of biological hazard, (61.6%) prevalence of chemical hazard, (60.6%) prevalence of psychological hazard and (95.7%) prevalence of ergonomic hazard. Due to exposures to broken glasses, needles, nails, metals, bottles, trips and falls, dust, machinery, computer equipment, woods, faeces, used condoms, food wastes, decaying materials, insects, rats, snakes, battery, poisoning from insecticides, decaying materials, chemical substances, lifting heavy bags of picked solid waste materials such as metals and plastics. Study recommends the use of PPEs by scavengers and enforcement of the use by government to ensure their exposures to some of these hazards are reduced. Also, recommends collaboration of Government with health workers to organize frequent health education and promotion to educate the waste scavengers on various types of health hazards.