International Journal For Multidisciplinary Research

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A Widely Indexed Open Access Peer Reviewed Multidisciplinary Bi-monthly Scholarly International Journal

Call for Paper Volume 7, Issue 4 (July-August 2025) Submit your research before last 3 days of August to publish your research paper in the issue of July-August.

Assessment of the Occupational Safety and Health Management Practices in Sewerage maintenance workers in East India

Author(s) Mr. Amit GUPTA, Prof. Dr. NOOPUR ANAND
Country India
Abstract The SDG6 goals of assuring hygiene, clean water and sanitation will not be practically possible only when hygiene is ensured among sanitation workers. There are different types of sanitation workers such as STP Operators, open drain cleaners, toilet cleaners etc. Those working as Sewerage maintenance workers face the most risk because they are the ones most exposed to hazardous materials. These workers are also prone to drowning accidents, skin infections and many more such threats.
Personal protection equipment, guidance through training, SOP are not utilized properly to ensure their safety. These risks have reduced the average life of sanitation workers to mere 50 whereas the national average is at 65 years. It does not mean there are no laws to safeguard these workers. 'The Prohibition of Employment of Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013' by the Ministry of Law is framed with a good purpose. Further, SOP for Cleaning of Sewers and Septic Tanks is published in 2018 and advisory also rolled out in 2021 for creating ERSU (Emergency response sanitation unit) to escalate the safety of sanitation workers. They focus on providing customized training, providing efficient training to enhance the life quality of sewerage workers.
Primary research was conducted across various cities of India which included 102 sewer maintenance workers to enumerate current practices involved in Sewage maintenance. Measures for Occupational safety and guarding against diseases was included. The aim of the study was to find out the challenges of legally mandated PPE and usage.
Keywords Sewerage maintenance workers, Occupational safety and health, Personal protective equipment, Manual scavengers
Field Sociology
Published In Volume 7, Issue 4, July-August 2025
Published On 2025-07-25
DOI https://doi.org/10.36948/ijfmr.2025.v07i04.52212
Short DOI https://doi.org/g9vpsq

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