Health impacts on workers in landfill in Jeddah city, Saudi Arabia

ABSTRACT

All workers [twenty nine workers] in the Jeddah landfill were interviewed. They were asked to answer a precoded questionnaire. Jeddah landfill lies in Breman region on the east of the highway. It was constructed on the year 1982. Its total area is about 1.5 square kilometers. The daily solid waste weight disposed off in the landfill is from three to four thousands tons. There is a network of pipes and wells to collect gases which are burnt. There is no network for the disposal of the leachate. The personnel are 29 they work in shifts. The majority [62.1%] are from Bangladesh. This can be explained by the fact that they are poor, ignorant and work in any job regardless the hazards that my result from such work. It was found that 17.9% had accidents. Errors in dealing with instruments and falls each constitutes 20% of accidents' causes. Other causes represent 60%. The major four health problems are respiratory infections and/or allergy, eye infections, gastrointestinal tract [GIT] infections, and musculoskeletal injuries representing 65.5%, 48.3%, 20.7%, and 17.2%, respectively. It is recommended for landfill workers to wear protective clothes and equipment, have work-related training courses, and be medically supervised