Abstract—Waste collector workers are potentially exposed to
a variety of health risk and health symptoms factors. Collection
of the domestic waste is also a job which requires repeated
heavy physical activity such as lifting, carrying, pulling, and
pushing. The objectives of this study were to conduct a survey to
identify potential health risk and health symptom and also to
identify the workers practice on personal protective equipment
(PPE) during work. The subjects were all current employees of
Kota Bharu Municipal Council in Kota Bharu, Kelantan. The
survey questionnaire was completed by 103 waste collector
workers (n=103). The result of study indicates that waste
collectors present a risk for the development of chronic
respiratory symptoms (cough, phlegm, asphyxiate and
wheezing) (75.0%), common work related hazards (biological,
physical, ergonomic, psychosocial, and chemical) (62.3%),
musculoskeletal symptoms (low back pain and elbow or wrist
pain) (90.8%), dermatological symptoms (itchy and rashes)
(70.3%) and gastrointestinal symptoms (nausea and diarrhea)
(65.5%). Therefore, workers must alert and aware the
potentials health risk and potentials health symptoms arising
from their work.
Index Terms—Health risk assessment, Kota Bharu
Municipal Council, solid waste, workers.
Haliza Abdul Rahman is with the Department of Environmental and
Occupational Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti
Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia (e-mail:
dr.haliza@upm.edu.my).
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Cite:Mohd Shah Hafizhin Aminuddin and Haliza Abdul Rahman, "Health Risk Survey for Domestic Waste Management Agency Workers: Case Study on Kota Bharu Municipal Council (MPKB), Kelantan, Malaysia," International Journal of Environmental Science and Development vol. 6, no. 8, pp. 629-634, 2015.