International Journal of Environmental Science and Development

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.