Working Conditions at the Water Treatment Plants: Activities, Hazards and Protective Measures (original) (raw)
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Occupational health and safety prevention plan in water treatment plant
International Journal of Life Sciences, 2018
The research was carried out at the "El Guarumo" drinking water plant located in Santa Ana, province of Manabí, Ecuador. The objective of the investigation was the proposal of a plan of prevention of occupational risks that allows the management of the labor risks in said plant. The main tools used were: survey, interview, checklist, LEST questionnaire for the diagnosis of the current situation in terms of working conditions, the risk identification matrix and the binary method of risk assessment. The main results obtained were the identification of the risks in their different categories, observing that the critical risk factors are related to the physical overexertion, the uncomfortable postures and the manual lifting of the load. Among the important risks are falling objects, skin contact with toxic substances and mental overwork, closely related to work pressures and job security? It was possible to carry out the proposal of preventive and corrective measures in order to properly manage the risks and contribute to the safety and health of the workers.
Application of occupational health and safety management system at sewage treatment plants
2012
Sewage treatment plant (STP) operators are exposed to variety of hazard during wastewater processing. The aim of this study is to identify and manage these hazards, particularly in a local STP in Malaysia, through Occupational Health and Safety Management System (OSHMS). Initially, reported hazards data were collected via review of literatures, questionnaire distribution and interview with experts. Then, the most risky hazards based on conditions of selected STP were identified. Subsequently, the hazards were ranked based on severity and likelihood. Results show exposure to excessive noise, skin irritation and slip and fall are the main concerns of workers in the site. Therefore, noise mitigation was done using sound absorbers. It was indicated that the level of existing noise (94.2 dB) was reduced to 92.1 dB and 90.6 dB by application of carpet and cardboard, respectively. Skin irritation risk is suggested to be mitigated by installation of auto-cleaner, self-cleaning bar screen and scraper blades at the site. In addition, cordoning off areas while cleaning is in progress and provision of ramps at cleaning area around the clarifier are found to be the appropriate solutions for slip and fall risk at the site.
E3S Web of Conferences, 2018
Water Treatment Plant (WTP) is an important infrastructure to ensure human health and the environment. In its development, aspects of environmental safety and health are of concern. This paper case study was conducted at the Water Treatment Plant Company in Semarang, Central Java, Indonesia. Hazard identification and risk assessment is one part of the occupational safety and health program at the risk management stage. The purpose of this study was to identify potential hazards using hazard identification methods and risk assessment methods. Risk assessment is done using criteria of severity and probability of accident. The results obtained from this risk assessment are 22 potential hazards present in the water purification process. Extreme categories that exist in the risk assessment are leakage of chlorine and industrial fires. Chlorine and fire leakage gets the highest value because its impact threatens many things, such as industrial disasters that could endanger human life and ...
Monitoring Risks in Association With Exposure Levels Among Wastewater Treatment Plant Workers
Journal of Occupational & Environmental Medicine, 2007
To investigate the relationship between exposure to hydrogen sulfide and endotoxin during specific job tasks and health symptoms among wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) workers. Methods: The exposure levels for specific tasks were measured by personal monitoring. The health symptoms of WWTP workers were compared with those of water treatment plant workers through a questionnaire survey. Results: Exposure levels for all monitored tasks were less than 1 ppm for hydrogen sulfide and 91 EU/m 3 (endotoxin units/m 3) for endotoxin. Statistically higher odds ratios of respiratory, ocular and skin irritation, neurology, and gastrointestine symptoms were shown among WWTP workers compared with water treatment plant workers. Tasks related to sludge handling and plant inspection showed statistically significant associations with memory/concentration difficulties, throat irritation, and stomach pain. Conclusions: These results suggest that exposure control programs for specific job tasks and work locations are needed.
Factors in reliable treatment plant operation for the production of safe water
Environmental Geochemistry and Health, 2010
This contribution to the International Congress on Production of Safe Water, Izmir, Turkey, 20-24 January, 2009, relates to general aspects of a water supply undertaking rather than to particular technologies or chemistries for water treatment. The paper offers a ''creative problem solving'' approach following Fogler and LeBlanc (Strategies for creative problem solving. Prentice Hall, NJ, 1995) as a model for generating sustainable solutions when water quality and safety problems arise. Such a structured approach presents a systematic methodology that can promote communication and goal-sharing across the inter-related, but often isolated and dispersed, functions of water scientists and researchers, engineers, operations managers, government departments and communities. A problem-solving strategy, or ''heuristic'', invokes five main steps (define; generate; decide; implement; evaluate). Associated with each step are various creative and enabling techniques, many of which are quite familiar to us in one form or another, but which we can use more effectively in combination and through our increased awareness and practice. For example, taking a fresh view of a problem can be promoted by a variety of ''lateral thinking'' tools.
Safe and effective operation of wastewater plants
EJPPS EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF PARENTERAL AND PHARMACEUTICAL SCIENCES (ISSN: 2633-6588), 2024
Wastewater treatment plants are present within many pharmaceutical facilities, due to the scale of operations and to ensure that the pollutant concentrations in the treated wastewater comply with the local and/or national regulations regarding disposal of wastewaters into community treatment plants or into rivers, lakes or oceans¹. Due to pollution concerns, and the associated impact of antimicrobials leading to an increase of multi-drug resistance², it is important industrial effluent receives at least pre-treatment (and most commonly full treatment) at the actual plant. This is in order to reduce the pollutant load, before discharge to the sewer. This process is generally referred to as industrial wastewater treatment. This is necessary because industrial wastewater, as with many pharmaceutical facilities, will invariably contain pollutants which cannot be removed by conventional sewage treatment. It also stands that the variable flow of industrial waste associated with production cycles may upset the population dynamics of biological treatment units, such as the activated sludge process. The function of such plants is to clean sewage and water so that they can be returned to the environment, without polluting other water sources or supplies. Wastewater plants are designed to remove solids and pollutants, break down organic matter and restore the oxygen content of treated water. Ideally, with wastewater treatment plants a pharmaceutical compound and its metabolites undergo a partial or complete mineralization or a slow biodegradation after binding on solid sludge. In poorly performing plants, pharmaceuticals pass unchanged through the wastewater treatment plant and into the general water system or into the environment³. Key aspects of the treatment steps, together with some examples of operational problems, are discussed in this paper, together with some examples of what happens when things go wrong.
Occupational Health Risk Assessment for Wastewater Treatment and Reuse in Kanpur, India
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
The treatment and reuse of wastewater for irrigation can lead to occupational health risks for sewage treatment plant (STP) workers and farmers. Sanitation Safety Planning (SSP) is an approach which can be used to measure and mitigate these risks. This paper explores what impact a novel secondary treatment process, consisting of an integrated permeate channel (IPC) membrane combined with a constructed wetland plus, has on the occupational health risks compared with the existing activated sludge wastewater treatment process and reuse system in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh. A mixed methodology was used, which included key informant interviews, structured observations, and E. coli analysis. This data was used to undertake semi-quantitative risk assessments following the SSP approach. The novel secondary treatment increased the number of health risks which the STP workers were exposed to, but the severity of the risks was lower. This was due to the differences in treatment processes and infras...
SAFETY MANAGEMENT OF WATER ECONOMY. CASE STUDY OF THE WATER AND SEWERAGE COMPANY
Management Systems in Production Engineering, 2019
This study addresses the issues of water management safety management in the context of shaping the appropriate level of municipal services in Poland, related to quality standards and the availability of water resources for enterprises and the local community. The literature review presents examples of activities concerning the evaluation of the quality and availability of groundwater and their suitability for domestic and commercial use in the world. The key parameters of water intended for human consumption, which affect its quality, have been selected based on the literature and the Polish standards set out in the regulation. On this basis, appropriate parameters for case-study research were selected. In the following, the analytical methods and tools used to assess water quality were characterized. In the case study example, the analysis of water parameters from selected three different intakes in 2015-2017 (Tęczowa, Stodoły and GPW Rybnik-Północ) was performed and the functioning and role of the internal Water and Sewage Laboratory in the safety management of water economy in the water and sewerage company has been presented.
Wastewater exposure and health--a comparative study of two occupational groups
Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 2003
Aims: To investigate whether wastewater workers are at increased risk of developing cancer. Methods: Two cohorts of workers employed by the City of Copenhagen, 591 wastewater workers and 1545 water supply workers (controls), were followed from 1965 until 1998. These two cohorts were compared in terms of cause specific mortality and cancer incidence. Results: The wastewater workers' mortality exceeded that of the controls (relative risk (RR) = 1.25, 95% CI: 1.03 to 1.51). A similar small excess was seen for cancer incidence (RR = 1.27, 95% CI: 0.97 to 1.67). Though rare, there was a strongly increased incidence of primary liver cancer among the wastewater workers (RR = 8.9, 95% CI: 1.5 to 51.5). Conclusion: The excess mortality seen among the wastewater workers was smaller than originally feared. It may partly have been due to their occupational exposure, and for preventive purposes, exposure to wastewater and sludge should be minimised. The possibility that sewage exposure confers an increased risk of primary liver cancer deserves further investigation. E xposure to sewage involves potential intake of pathogens, toxins, and industrial wastes. While acute and subacute effects are well described, 1-6 the evidence relating to long term effects is more scant and less consistent. 7-9 Some of the studies on long term effects have indicated a slight increase in the total mortality and in the incidence of cancer, 7-9 while analyses on specific cancer sites have yielded non-consistent observations comprising excess numbers of laryngeal cancer and primary liver cancer, 9 and of cancer of the prostate gland, the nose and nasal sinuses, and the stomach. 8 Wastewater workers may be exposed by inhalation of aerosols and gasses, by dermal contact, and by ingestion. The microbial agents include Gram negative bacilli such as Klebsiella spp and Escherichia coli, Clostridium perfringens, faecal streptococci, Leptospira spp, hepatitis virus, enterovirus, and Aspergillus spp. 10-12 In addition, the workers may be exposed to such agents that may be produced by or from these organisms, including exotoxins, endotoxins, butyl acetate, and hydrogen sulphide. 12 With regard to industrial wastes found in the Copenhagen sewer system, the list of potentially toxic