Exposure to human waste from spills while servicing aircraft lavatories: hazards and methods of prevention

Details

• Personal Author:
  Abelmann A ; Dorevitch S ; Lacey SE
• Description:
  Workers service the lavatories of commercial aircraft approximately 11 million times per year in the United States and may have exposure to the spectrum of pathogenic viruses, bacteria and parasites potentially found in human waste. An industrial hygiene walk-through of the workplace was conducted by an interdisciplinary occupational health and safety team, and lavatory waste operators and supervisors and the process was observed. Exposure to untreated waste can occur through dermal, ingestion, and inhalation in quantities ranging from droplets to large spills. Several engineering and administrative measures were advised to minimize worker exposure, including the effective locking of a critical valve, and a mechanism for communicating valve locking problems. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Aircraft Occupational Health Parasitic Diseases Risk Assessment Risk Factors Safety Skin Viral Diseases Waste Management Workplace
• Keywords:
  Author Keywords: Aircraft Lavatories Bacteria Exposure-levels Health Hazard Evaluation Humans Human Waste Exposure Industrial-hygiene Occupational Health Parasitic-diseases Pathogens Risk-factors Skin-exposure Viral-diseases Viral-infections Waste-disposal Work-environment Workers

  More +
• ISSN:
  0019-8366
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Illinois ; OSHA Region 5
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  123-128
• Volume:
  48
• Issue:
  1
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20045786
• Citation:
  Ind Health 2010 Jan; 48(1):123-128
• Contact Point Address:
  Steven E. Lacey, 1University of Illinois at Chicago, School of Public Health, Division of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, 2121 West Taylor Street, (MC 922), Chicago, IL 60612
• Email:
  slacey@uic.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2010
• NORA Priority Area:
  Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing
• Performing Organization:
  University of Illinois at Chicago
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  Industrial Health
• End Date:
  20290630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:1a997059700c5270c2007ff040ceea47a2aed31625e486bb5e041ed3661fff2cd3da494767d9cfb6a7ebaa32462eff834afef9c3c7f2fe597ba127fd4038065f
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/201074/cdc_201074_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 76.61 KB ]