Evaluation of occupational health and safety intervention for the waste and sanitation workers in Bangladesh during COVID-19

Int J Hyg Environ Health. 2023 Nov 22;255:114288. doi: 10.1016/j.ijheh.2023.114288. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTWaste and sanitation workers in South-Asian countries are vulnerable to injuries and diseases, including COVID-19. In Bangladesh, an intervention was implemented during COVID-19 to lower these workers' occupational health risks through training and PPE distribution. We assessed how the intervention affected their occupational health behaviors using a randomized cluster trial in 10 Bangladeshi cities, including seven intervention and three control areas. We conducted 499 surveys (Control-152, Intervention-347) and 47 structured observations (Control:15, Intervention:32) at baseline and 499 surveys (Control:150, Intervention:349) and 50 structured observations (Control:15, Intervention:35) at endline. To evaluate the impact of intervention at the endline, we used the difference in difference (DID) method. Compared to control, workers from intervention areas were more likely to have increased knowledge of using/maintaining PPEs (adjusted DID: 21%, CI: 8, 33), major COVID-19 transmission causes (adjusted DID: 27%, CI: 14, 40), and preventive measures (adjusted DID: 12%, CI: -0.6, 25), and improved attitude about using PPEs (adjusted DID: 36%, CI: 22, 49), washing PPEs (adjusted DID: 20%, CI: 8, 32). The intervention was more likely to improve workers' self-reported practice of taking adequate precautions after getting back from work (adjusted DID: 37%, CI: 27, 47) and...
Source: International Journal of Hygiene and Environmental health - Category: Environmental Health Authors: Source Type: research