Work-Related Exposures and Musculoskeletal Disorder Symptoms among Informal E-Waste Recyclers at Agbogbloshie, Ghana

Details

• Journal Article:
  Proceedings of the 21st Congress of the International Ergonomics Association (IEA 2021), June 13-18, 2021, virtual event. Volume IV: healthcare and healthy work. Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems, volume 222
• Personal Author:
  Acquah, Augustine A. ; Arko-Mensah, John ; Basu, Niladri ; D’Souza, Clive ; Fobil, Julius N. ; Martin, Bernard J. ; Quakyi, Isabella A. ; Robins, Thomas G.
• Description:
  Recycling of electrical and electronic waste (e-waste) in developing countries is mostly conducted in the informal sector consisting of low skilled workers. Informal e-waste recycling predominantly involves the physically demanding work of manually collecting, dismantling and burning of e-waste items to extract reusable components and valuable metals including gold or copper. This cross-sectional study investigated the effects of manual e-waste recycling work on the musculoskeletal health of 176 workers at Agbogbloshie in Accra, Ghana - the largest informal e-waste dumpsites in Africa. Findings indicate significant associations between prolonged walking and weighted MSD symptom scores for the lower extremities, and between manual material handlings tasks and weighted MSD symptom scores for the upper extremities and lower back. The study calls attention to the need for ergonomics research in the informal work sector to promote safer practices and address a range of worker health concerns. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Electrical Equipment And Supplies Electronic Waste Ergonomics Informal Work Musculoskeletal Diseases Musculoskeletal Disorders Musculoskeletal System Occupational Diseases Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Occupational Injuries Recycling Safety

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• Keywords:
  Author Keywords: Electronic Waste; Informal Work; Musculoskeletal Disorders; Exposure Ergonomics; Electronic Equipment; Recycling; Waste Disposal; Cross Sectional Studies; Musculoskeletal Disorders; MSD; Manual Materials Handling; Occupational Exposure;
• Source:
  Proceedings of the 21st Congress of the International Ergonomics Association (IEA 2021), June 13-18, 2021, virtual event. Volume IV: healthcare and healthy work. Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems, volume 222. Black NL, Neumann WP, Noy I eds. Cham, Switzerland: Springer, 2021 May; 222:677-681
• ISBN:
  9783030746100
• ISSN:
  2367-3370
• Pubmed ID:
  34308445
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC8301232
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  T42 OH008455/OH/NIOSH CDC HHSUnited States/ ; U01 TW010103/TW/FIC NIH HHSUnited States/ ; U2R TW010110/TW/FIC NIH HHSUnited States/
• Genre:
  Proceedings
• Place as Subject:
  Michigan ; OSHA Region 5
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  5 pdf pages
• Volume:
  222
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20064854
• Contact Point Address:
  Clive D'Souza, Center for Ergonomics, Department of Industrial & Operations Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109-2117, USA
• Email:
  crdsouza@umich.edu
• Editor(s):
  Black NL; Neumann WP; Noy I
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2021
• Performing Organization:
  University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Collection(s):
  CDC Public Access National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:29379507f23f614faaaf13c7914681ad433a84f2936dba0b551748208da3c05bf1571835064e8dd4029ef7bf961f2be59793db1caf653560c4ddcf59599957f9
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/113862/cdc_113862_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 45.21 KB ]