Review of Health Risks for workers in the Waste and Recycling Industry.

This study was commissioned by the British Occupational Health Research Foundation on the behalf of the Environmental Services Association Education Trust (ESAET). In recent years the waste and recycling industry has moved away from its reliance on disposal in landfill to much higher levels of recycling and recovery. In addition, new materials and technologies are entering the waste chain. These changes are likely to have led to significant changes in the nature and magnitude of the associated risks to worker health. The aims of the review were to:Provide a resource that will assist operators in the identification of potential hazards, assessment of the health risks to their workers and implementation of appropriate exposure prevention or control measures;Identify which of the occupational health issues selected by ESAET for review are associated with the industry’s main activities and provide the basis for compiling risk assessments and identifying appropriate control measures; andIdentify any occupational health issues that present unacceptable levels of risk (if any), require unique or burdensome control measures or where additional research is required in order to come to a clearer conclusion.The study involved a comprehensive review of relevant published literature and a limited survey of industry representatives about current practice in relation to health surveillance, exposure monitoring and their perceptions of the major health issues. In addition, exposure modelling was undertaken to inform the risk assessments that were undertaken for each of the hazards and processes considered.