Sewer workers are exposed to many chemical and biological agents present in the air or in the water, by inhalation of gases, vapors or aerosols, by skin contact or by ingestion, depending on the new publication of the National Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health Safety (handles). As a result, it recommends new standards to improve the working conditions of sewer workers.
A first assessment established in 2016
In June 2016, the Agency drew up the first conclusions relating to the occupational risk factors linked to the excess mortality of sewer workers. However, given the complexity of the measurement campaign relating to biological agents, the opinion and the expert report published in April 2016 were unable to integrate the data on these biological contaminants.
A heavy toll of toxicity
The Agency’s new conclusions report the results of an exploratory measurement campaign carried out from March 2015 to June 2016 and highlight significant, sometimes worrying, concentrations of endotoxins and microbial flora (including Aspergillus Flavus) in the air in sewers. .
“These results confirm that the collection network in which the sewer workers operate on a daily basis is a particularly unsanitary environment, a finding already made during the analysis of the exposure data to chemical pollutants published in the opinion of June 2016. Certain tasks appear. particularly exhibiting work, in particular the extraction work of the desalting basin as well as the high pressure cleaning ”recalls the Agency.
Agency recommendations
The collective prevention measure recommended by the Agency would be that before any descent into the network, ventilate it naturally to reduce the high concentration of chemical and microbiological pollutants in the air in the sewers.
In addition, to protect sewer workers, it is essential that personal protective equipment be made available to professionals, as well as a respiratory protection device. “They must be worn and changed according to the manufacturer’s recommendations, regularly cleaned and stored outside the workshops, if possible in specific premises,” recalls the Agency.
The Agency wishes to set up communication campaigns with professionals, in particular in the construction industry and catering, to make them aware of the effects of various discharges and discharges of construction waste into sewers and of the risks incurred by sewer workers.
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