A sanitation worker (or sanitary worker) is a person responsible for cleaning, maintaining, operating, or emptying the equipment or technology at any step of the
sanitation
Sanitation refers to public health conditions related to clean drinking water and treatment and disposal of human excreta and sewage. Preventing human contact with feces is part of sanitation, as is hand washing with soap. Sanitation syste ...
chain.
[World Bank, ILO, WaterAid, and WHO (2019)]
Health, Safety and Dignity of Sanitation Workers: An Initial Assessment
World Bank, Washington, DC. This is the definition used in the narrower sense within the
WASH
WASH (or Watsan, WaSH) is an acronym that stands for "water, sanitation and hygiene". It is used widely by non-governmental organizations and aid agencies in developing countries. The purposes of providing access to WASH services include achievi ...
sector. More broadly speaking, sanitation workers may also be involved in cleaning
streets
Streets is the plural of street, a type of road.
Streets or The Streets may also refer to: Music
* Streets (band), a rock band fronted by Kansas vocalist Steve Walsh
* ''Streets'' (punk album), a 1977 compilation album of various early UK punk ba ...
,
park
A park is an area of natural, semi-natural or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. Urban parks are green spaces set aside for recreation inside towns and cities. ...
s,
public space
A public space is a place that is open and accessible to the general public. Roads (including the pavement), public squares, parks, and beaches are typically considered public space. To a limited extent, government buildings which are open to ...
s,
sewers,
stormwater drains, and
public toilets
A public toilet, restroom, public bathroom or washroom is a room or small building with toilets (or urinals) and sinks for use by the general public. The facilities are available to customers, travelers, employees of a business, school pupils ...
. Another definition is: "The moment an individual’s waste is outsourced to another, it becomes sanitation work."
Some organizations use the term specifically for
municipal solid waste collectors, whereas others exclude the workers involved in management of
solid waste
Municipal solid waste (MSW), commonly known as trash or garbage in the United States and rubbish in Britain, is a waste type consisting of everyday items that are discarded by the public. "Garbage" can also refer specifically to food waste, ...
(rubbish, trash) sector from its definition.
Sanitation workers are essential in maintaining safe sanitation services in homes, schools, hospitals, and other settings and protecting public health but face many health risks in doing so, including from exposure to a wide range of biological and chemical agents. Additionally, they may be at risk of injury from heavy labor, poor and prolonged postures and positions and
confined spaces, as well as
psychosocial stress
The psychosocial approach looks at individuals in the context of the combined influence that psychological factors and the surrounding social environment have on their physical and mental wellness and their ability to function. This approach is ...
. These risks are exacerbated under conditions of poverty, illness, poor nutrition, poor housing,
child labor
Child labour refers to the exploitation of children through any form of work that deprives children of their childhood, interferes with their ability to attend regular school, and is mentally, physically, socially and morally harmful. Such e ...
, migration, drug and alcohol abuse, discrimination,
social stigma
Social stigma is the disapproval of, or discrimination against, an individual or group based on perceived characteristics that serve to distinguish them from other members of a society. Social stigmas are commonly related to culture, gender, ra ...
and societal neglect. In many
developing countries
A developing country is a sovereign state with a lesser developed industrial base and a lower Human Development Index (HDI) relative to other countries. However, this definition is not universally agreed upon. There is also no clear agreem ...
, sanitation workers are more vulnerable due to unregulated or unenforced environmental and labor protections, and lack of
occupational health and safety
Occupational safety and health (OSH), also commonly referred to as occupational health and safety (OHS), occupational health, or occupational safety, is a multidisciplinary field concerned with the safety, health, and welfare of people at wor ...
.
[ Text was copied from this source, which is available under ]
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
/ref>
Sanitation work can be grouped into formal employment and informal employment. Sanitation workers face many challenges. These relate to occupational safety and health (diseases related to contact with the excreta; injuries; the dangers of working in confined space
A confined space is a space with limited entry and egress and not suitable for human inhabitants. An example is the interior of a storage tank, occasionally entered by maintenance workers but not intended for human occupancy. Hazards in a confined ...
s, legal and institutional issues, as well as social and financial challenges. One of the main issues is the social stigma
Social stigma is the disapproval of, or discrimination against, an individual or group based on perceived characteristics that serve to distinguish them from other members of a society. Social stigmas are commonly related to culture, gender, ra ...
attached to sanitation work. Sanitation workers are at an increased risk of becoming ill from waterborne diseases. To reduce this risk and protect against illness, such as diarrhea
Diarrhea, also spelled diarrhoea, is the condition of having at least three loose, liquid, or watery bowel movements each day. It often lasts for a few days and can result in dehydration due to fluid loss. Signs of dehydration often begin w ...
, safety measures should be put in place for workers and employers.
The working conditions, legal status, social aspects etc. are vastly different for sanitation workers in developing countries
A developing country is a sovereign state with a lesser developed industrial base and a lower Human Development Index (HDI) relative to other countries. However, this definition is not universally agreed upon. There is also no clear agreem ...
versus those in high income countries
A high-income economy is defined by the World Bank as a nation with a gross national income per capita of US$12,696 or more in 2020, calculated using the Atlas method. While the term "high-income" is often used interchangeably with " First World ...
. Much of the current literature on sanitation workers focuses on the conditions in developing countries.
Those workers who maintain and empty on-site sanitation systems (e.g. pit latrines, septic tanks) contribute to functional fecal sludge management
Fecal sludge management (FSM) (or faecal sludge management in British English) is the storage, collection, transport, treatment and safe end use or disposal of fecal sludge. Together, the collection, transport, treatment and end use of fecal slud ...
systems. Without sanitation workers, the Sustainable Development Goal 6, Target 6.2 ("safely managed sanitation for all") cannot be achieved.[Sperandeo, L., Srinivasan, S. (2020)]
The Heroes behind Sanitation - An insight into faecal sludge management workers in Zambia
BORDA, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, Bonn, Germany It is important to safeguard the dignity
Dignity is the right of a person to be valued and respected for their own sake, and to be treated ethically. It is of significance in morality, ethics, law and politics as an extension of the Enlightenment-era concepts of inherent, inaliena ...
and health of sanitation workers.
Definition and terminology
A report by World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Inte ...
, International Labour Organization
The International Labour Organization (ILO) is a United Nations agency whose mandate is to advance social and economic justice by setting international labour standards. Founded in October 1919 under the League of Nations, it is the first and o ...
, WaterAid and WHO
Who or WHO may refer to:
* Who (pronoun), an interrogative or relative pronoun
* Who?, one of the Five Ws in journalism
* World Health Organization
Arts and entertainment Fictional characters
* Who, a creature in the Dr. Seuss book '' Horton He ...
from 2019 defines "sanitation workers" to include toilet cleaners and caretakers in domestic, public
In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociology, sociological concept of the ''Öf ...
, and institutional settings; those who empty pits from pit latrine
A pit latrine, also known as pit toilet, is a type of toilet that collects human feces in a hole in the ground. Urine and feces enter the pit through a drop hole in the floor, which might be connected to a toilet seat or squatting pan for use ...
s and vaults of septic tank
A septic tank is an underground chamber made of concrete, fiberglass, or plastic through which domestic wastewater ( sewage) flows for basic sewage treatment. Settling and anaerobic digestion processes reduce solids and organics, but the treatm ...
s and other fecal sludge handlers; those who clean sewers and manholes; and those who work at sewage treatment plants
Sewage treatment (or domestic wastewater treatment, municipal wastewater treatment) is a type of wastewater treatment which aims to remove contaminants from sewage to produce an effluent that is suitable for discharge to the surrounding en ...
and fecal sludge treatment plants and disposal sites.
Another definition is: "The moment an individual’s waste is outsourced to another, it becomes sanitation work."[PRIA (2019)]
Lived Realities of Women Sanitation Workers in India: Insights from a Participatory Research Conducted in Three Cities of India
Participatory Research in Asia, New Delhi, India
Since there are various definitions of sanitation
Sanitation refers to public health conditions related to clean drinking water and treatment and disposal of human excreta and sewage. Preventing human contact with feces is part of sanitation, as is hand washing with soap. Sanitation syste ...
, it is not surprising that there are various definitions of "sanitation worker".
Regional differences in terminology
In the United States, the term "sanitation worker" tends to be used exclusively for municipal solid waste collectors: people who collect solid waste and take it to a transfer station, landfill, or incinerator. People who work with excreta management are usually known as environmental engineers
A biophysical environment is a biotic and abiotic surrounding of an organism or population, and consequently includes the factors that have an influence in their survival, development, and evolution. A biophysical environment can vary in scale ...
or environmental specialists. The importance of sanitation workers in the struggle for human rights
Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hu ...
is seen in the 1968 labor strike of the sanitation workers of Memphis
Memphis most commonly refers to:
* Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt
* Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city
Memphis may also refer to:
Places United States
* Memphis, Alabama
* Memphis, Florida
* Memphis, Indiana
* Memp ...
, Tennessee: The Memphis sanitation strike
The Memphis sanitation strike began on February 12, 1968, in response to the deaths of sanitation workers Echol Cole and Robert Walker.Estes, S. (2000). `I AM A MAN A MAN?’: Race, Masculinity, and the 1968 Memphis Sanitation Strike. ''Labor ...
, supported by Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist, one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968 ...
, brought together both waste collectors and sewerage
Sewerage (or sewage system) is the infrastructure that conveys sewage or surface runoff (stormwater, meltwater, rainwater) using sewers. It encompasses components such as receiving drainage, drains, manholes, pumping stations, storm overflows, a ...
maintenance workers.
Related terms
More generally, a waste collector
A waste collector, also known as a garbageman, garbage collector, trashman (in the US), binman or (rarely) dustman (in the UK), is a person employed by a public or private enterprise to collect and dispose of municipal solid waste (refuse) and ...
(also bin man, garbage collector, etc.) deals with municipal solid waste
Municipal solid waste (MSW), commonly known as trash or garbage in the United States and rubbish in Britain, is a waste type consisting of everyday items that are discarded by the public. "Garbage" can also refer specifically to food waste ...
.
Types of work and occupations
The types of work that sanitation workers carry out is shown in the table below.
Types of employment
Sanitation workers work in different types of employment situations. They are either government-employed workers, workers of private service providers or informal workers.[WaterAid (2022]
Assessment of the Health, Safety and Dignity of Sanitation Workers in Dar es Salaam, Dodoma and Arusha, Tanzania
February 2022 Sanitation workers who are employed by the government usually have comparatively good infrastructure, tools and personal protective equipment (PPE), and face only moderate health and safety risks.[WaterAid (2022)]
Protecting the health, safety, and dignity of sanitation workers in Tanzania
(policy brief). WaterAid
For example, the tasks of unclogging of the main sewers or operating wastewater treatment plants
Wastewater treatment is a process used to remove contaminants from wastewater and convert it into an effluent that can be returned to the water cycle. Once returned to the water cycle, the effluent creates an acceptable impact on the environmen ...
are usually performed by formal government workers or private companies, whereas the unclogging of household sewer connections is performed by private companies and informal sanitation workers.
Informal workers
In many developing countries, informal workers collect human excreta from certain types of toilet (such as bucket toilet
A bucket toilet is a basic form of a dry toilet whereby a bucket (pail) is used to collect excreta. Usually, feces and urine are collected together in the same bucket, leading to odor issues. The bucket may be situated inside a dwelling, or i ...
s and pit latrine
A pit latrine, also known as pit toilet, is a type of toilet that collects human feces in a hole in the ground. Urine and feces enter the pit through a drop hole in the floor, which might be connected to a toilet seat or squatting pan for use ...
s) without mechanical equipment and without personal protective equipment. These workers are "scooping out feces from ‘dry’ latrines and overflowing pits".[Ray, I., Prasad, CS S. (2018)]
Where there are no Sewers - Photoessays on Sanitation Work in Urban India
Sustainable Sanitation Alliance (SuSanA) secretariat at GIZ, Eschborn, Germany They are usually working in the informal labour sector and are commonly referred to as "informal sanitation workers". They have weak legal protection results from working informally and do not follow occupational health and safety
Occupational safety and health (OSH), also commonly referred to as occupational health and safety (OHS), occupational health, or occupational safety, is a multidisciplinary field concerned with the safety, health, and welfare of people at wor ...
standards.
Informal workers provide "manual emptying services to households, particularly where inaccessible to trucks and to the most vulnerable households". They are not registered or legally recognized, and often work without any protection, facing discrimination and stigma.
Number of sanitation workers
While the definition of sanitation workers encompasses a vast line of services, the number of sanitation workers globally is difficult to estimate because they often have multiple jobs or are categorized with other sectors (e.g., solid waste and healthcare facility management). Furthermore, many sanitation workers, especially in low-income areas, are informally employed and therefore difficult to localize.
Estimates at country level include:
* There are an estimated 5 to 6 million "sweepers" (a term used for sanitation workers) in Bangladesh.
* An estimate in 2018 put the number of "sanitation workers" in India at 5 million, and 50% of them being women.
Challenges
Sanitation workers provide a critical public service, essential for our daily lives and the environment. Yet their working conditions expose them to the worst consequences of poor sanitation such as debilitating infections, injuries, social stigma and even death every day. The challenges faced by sanitation workers can be categorized as follows: occupational safety and health
Occupational safety and health (OSH), also commonly referred to as occupational health and safety (OHS), occupational health, or occupational safety, is a multidisciplinary field concerned with the safety, health, and welfare of people at wo ...
, legal and institutional issues, financial insecurity, and social issues.
In the case of India, the work of sanitation workers (especially those without formal employment contracts) has been described as: Drudgery, dangerous, dirty and dehumanizing.
The five hidden dangers for people working as sanitation workers include health hazards, discrimination, psychological problems, low wages and lack of social security
Welfare, or commonly social welfare, is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specifical ...
coverage.
Occupational safety and health
Occupational safety and health issues for sanitation workers include: diseases related to contact with the excreta; injuries related to the physical effort of extracting and transporting the waste, including falls from height; injuries related to cuts from non-fecal waste (e.g. glass or needles) disposed of down the toilet. There are also the general dangers of working in confined space
A confined space is a space with limited entry and egress and not suitable for human inhabitants. An example is the interior of a storage tank, occasionally entered by maintenance workers but not intended for human occupancy. Hazards in a confined ...
s, including lack of oxygen.
Many sanitation workers in developing countries work without any form of personal protective equipment
Personal protective equipment (PPE) is protective clothing, helmets, goggles, or other garments or equipment designed to protect the wearer's body from injury or infection. The hazards addressed by protective equipment include physical, ...
(PPE) and no or minimal formal training. Physical and medical conditions directly associated with sanitation work that is carried out unsafely can include: "headaches, dizziness, fever, fatigue, asthma, gastroenteritis
Gastroenteritis, also known as infectious diarrhea and gastro, is an inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract including the stomach and intestine. Symptoms may include diarrhea, vomiting, and abdominal pain. Fever, lack of energy, and dehydr ...
, cholera
Cholera is an infection of the small intestine by some strains of the bacterium '' Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea that lasts a few days. Vomiting an ...
, typhoid
Typhoid fever, also known as typhoid, is a disease caused by ''Salmonella'' serotype Typhi bacteria. Symptoms vary from mild to severe, and usually begin six to 30 days after exposure. Often there is a gradual onset of a high fever over several d ...
, hepatitis, polio, cryptosporidiosis, schistosomiasis, eye and skin burn and other skin irritation, musculoskeletal disorders (including back pain), puncture wounds and cuts, blunt force".
Sanitation workers are at an increased risk of becoming ill from waterborne diseases
Waterborne diseases are conditions (meaning adverse effects on human health, such as death, disability, illness or disorders) caused by pathogenic micro-organisms that are transmitted in water. These diseases can be spread while bathing, washin ...
. One specific disease that concerns workers in sewers is Leptospirosis
Leptospirosis is a blood infection caused by the bacteria '' Leptospira''. Signs and symptoms can range from none to mild (headaches, muscle pains, and fevers) to severe ( bleeding in the lungs or meningitis). Weil's disease, the acute, sever ...
, spread through contact with rat urine
Urine is a liquid by-product of metabolism in humans and in many other animals. Urine flows from the kidneys through the ureters to the urinary bladder. Urination results in urine being excreted from the body through the urethra.
Cellul ...
.
The safety of sanitation workers is influenced by: Design and construction of the toilet or other piece of sanitation infrastructure, pressure by the customer or by the employer, as well as materials and equipment available to do the job.
Estimating occupational health outcomes among sanitation workers
It is difficult to estimate the burden of disease associated with occupational exposure to sanitation work due to the lack of clarity about the health risks and the uncertainty about the number of persons exposed. A systematic literature review with 65 studies showed the following: There was an increased risk of adverse health across a range of outcomes. This is especially true in the case of hepatitis A
Hepatitis A is an infectious disease of the liver caused by ''Hepatovirus A'' (HAV); it is a type of viral hepatitis. Many cases have few or no symptoms, especially in the young. The time between infection and symptoms, in those who develop the ...
infections, where a pooled estimate from 13 studies showed a doubling of odds associated with sanitation work, and even higher odds when limited to studies with lower risk of bias.
An increase in adverse gastrointestinal and respiratory conditions associated with sanitation work was also reported as the most common outcome. Comparatively few studies reported on adverse musculoskeletal and mental/social impacts, but these again consistently found elevated odds among sanitation workers. There was inconsistent evidence on mortality.
There is a need for further investigation and quantification of the health risks faced by sanitation workers, as compared to workers in other occupations, particularly in low-income countries, and of the effectiveness of governmental policies and other efforts to mitigate these risks. There are research gaps in characterizing the health risks of sanitation workers in three main areas: low-income countries, among women and those under informal employment.
Legal and institutional issues
In many developing countries
A developing country is a sovereign state with a lesser developed industrial base and a lower Human Development Index (HDI) relative to other countries. However, this definition is not universally agreed upon. There is also no clear agreem ...
, sanitation workers often have to work with weak legal protection, missing or weak standard operating procedure
A standard operating procedure (SOP) is a set of step-by-step instructions compiled by an organization to help workers carry out routine operations. SOPs aim to achieve efficiency, quality output, and uniformity of performance, while reducing misc ...
s, weak law enforcement
Law enforcement is the activity of some members of government who act in an organized manner to enforce the law by discovering, deterring, rehabilitating, or punishing people who violate the rules and norms governing that society. The term ...
and few policies protecting their rights
Rights are legal, social, or ethical principles of freedom or entitlement; that is, rights are the fundamental normative rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people according to some legal system, social convention, or ethical theory ...
and health.
Financial insecurity
Sanitation workers in developing countries are typically poorly and irregularly paid. This applies in particular to those who are employed on temporary or informal terms, as is common for many low grade jobs. Workers are also vulnerable to extortion
Extortion is the practice of obtaining benefit through coercion. In most jurisdictions it is likely to constitute a criminal offence; the bulk of this article deals with such cases. Robbery is the simplest and most common form of extortion, ...
in many countries.
Social issues
In developing countries, low-grade, unskilled sanitation workers often face social stigma and discrimination. This is especially true when sanitation is linked to a caste
Caste is a form of social stratification characterised by endogamy, hereditary transmission of a style of life which often includes an occupation, ritual status in a hierarchy, and customary social interaction and exclusion based on cultur ...
-based structure, such as in India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...
and Bangladesh. This stigma can result in intergenerational
Intergenerationality is interaction between members of different generations.Klimczuk, Andrzej, ''Intergenerationality, Intergenerational Justice, Intergenerational Policies'', n:S. Thompson (ed.), ''Encyclopedia of Diversity and Social Justice'', ...
discrimination, where children of sanitation workers often struggle to escape the vicious cycle of limited opportunities and sanitation work.
There can be implicit or explicit discrimination
Discrimination is the act of making unjustified distinctions between people based on the groups, classes, or other categories to which they belong or are perceived to belong. People may be discriminated on the basis of Racial discrimination, r ...
, which hinders workers’ social inclusion, their opportunities to shift careers, and social mobility. Furthermore, alcoholism
Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol that results in significant mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognized diagnostic entity. Predomi ...
and drug addiction
Addiction is a neuropsychological disorder characterized by a persistent and intense urge to engage in certain behaviors, one of which is the usage of a drug, despite substantial harm and other negative consequences. Repetitive drug use oft ...
to evade the working conditions are common among some sanitation workers in developing countries.
Sanitation workers, particularly those in information employment who manually empty septic tanks and pit latrines, are often subjected to social stigma
Social stigma is the disapproval of, or discrimination against, an individual or group based on perceived characteristics that serve to distinguish them from other members of a society. Social stigmas are commonly related to culture, gender, ra ...
for their work.
Approaches for improvement
The main approaches used to improve the situation of sanitation workers in developing countries include the reform of policy, legislation and regulation to acknowledge and professionalize the sanitation workforce. Furthermore, operational guidelines to mitigate the occupational risks of all types of sanitation work are required. This includes standard operating procedures, enforcement of laws, personal protective equipment
Personal protective equipment (PPE) is protective clothing, helmets, goggles, or other garments or equipment designed to protect the wearer's body from injury or infection. The hazards addressed by protective equipment include physical, ...
(PPE) for all aspects of sanitation work. A third approach is to build strong unions and associations to protect worker rights
Labor rights or workers' rights are both legal rights and human rights relating to labor relations between workers and employers. These rights are codified in national and international labor and employment law. In general, these rights influen ...
.
Motivated staff are needed to keep cities clean and functioning. Concerns like fair wages, medical and maternity benefits (for women staff), safety equipment, respect and security of employment must be addressed. Overall, a "positive perception of sanitation workers in government as well as civil society" would be helpful.
Operational guidelines
To reduce this risk and protect against illness, measures have been proposed for occupational health: Basic hygiene
Hygiene is a series of practices performed to preserve health.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), "Hygiene refers to conditions and practices that help to maintain health and prevent the spread of diseases." Personal hygiene refer ...
practices for workers (handwashing
Hand washing (or handwashing), also known as hand hygiene, is the act of cleaning one's hands with soap or handwash and water to remove viruses/ bacteria/microorganisms, dirt, grease, or other harmful and unwanted substances stuck to the hand ...
etc.); sanitation workers should be provided with proper personal protective equipment
Personal protective equipment (PPE) is protective clothing, helmets, goggles, or other garments or equipment designed to protect the wearer's body from injury or infection. The hazards addressed by protective equipment include physical, ...
(PPE) and be trained on how to use it (i.e. goggles, face mask, overalls, gloves, boots); vaccination
Vaccination is the administration of a vaccine to help the immune system develop immunity from a disease. Vaccines contain a microorganism or virus in a weakened, live or killed state, or proteins or toxins from the organism. In stimulat ...
s (e.g. tetanus
Tetanus, also known as lockjaw, is a bacterial infection caused by ''Clostridium tetani'', and is characterized by muscle spasms. In the most common type, the spasms begin in the jaw and then progress to the rest of the body. Each spasm usually ...
, polio
Poliomyelitis, commonly shortened to polio, is an infectious disease caused by the poliovirus. Approximately 70% of cases are asymptomatic; mild symptoms which can occur include sore throat and fever; in a proportion of cases more severe sy ...
, typhoid fever
Typhoid fever, also known as typhoid, is a disease caused by '' Salmonella'' serotype Typhi bacteria. Symptoms vary from mild to severe, and usually begin six to 30 days after exposure. Often there is a gradual onset of a high fever over severa ...
, hepatitis A
Hepatitis A is an infectious disease of the liver caused by ''Hepatovirus A'' (HAV); it is a type of viral hepatitis. Many cases have few or no symptoms, especially in the young. The time between infection and symptoms, in those who develop the ...
and hepatitis B
Hepatitis B is an infectious disease caused by the '' Hepatitis B virus'' (HBV) that affects the liver; it is a type of viral hepatitis. It can cause both acute and chronic infection.
Many people have no symptoms during an initial infection. ...
vaccinations.
Technology must match the needs of the workers. Workers are more likely to wear protective gear if they are given a choice of suitable clothing.
History
In European history the terms " nightsoil collectors" or "nightmen" and gong farmer
Gong farmer (also gongfermor, gongfermour, gong-fayer, gong-fower or gong scourer) was a term that entered use in Tudor England to describe someone who dug out and removed human excrement from privies and cesspits. The word "gong" was used for b ...
s were used. The current term for the safe collection of human excreta is fecal sludge management
Fecal sludge management (FSM) (or faecal sludge management in British English) is the storage, collection, transport, treatment and safe end use or disposal of fecal sludge. Together, the collection, transport, treatment and end use of fecal slud ...
. Towns with sanitation systems based on pail closet
A pail closet or pail privy was a room used for the disposal of Human waste, human excreta, under the "pail system" (or Rochdale system) of waste removal. The "closet" (a word which had long meant "toilet" in one usage) was a small outhouse (pri ...
s (bucket toilet
A bucket toilet is a basic form of a dry toilet whereby a bucket (pail) is used to collect excreta. Usually, feces and urine are collected together in the same bucket, leading to odor issues. The bucket may be situated inside a dwelling, or i ...
s in outhouse
An outhouse is a small structure, separate from a main building, which covers a toilet. This is typically either a pit latrine or a bucket toilet, but other forms of dry (non-flushing) toilets may be encountered. The term may also be use ...
s) relied on frequent emptying, performed by workers driving "honeywagons", a precursor to the vacuum truck now used to pump out septage from septic tank
A septic tank is an underground chamber made of concrete, fiberglass, or plastic through which domestic wastewater ( sewage) flows for basic sewage treatment. Settling and anaerobic digestion processes reduce solids and organics, but the treatm ...
s. The municipal emptying of pail toilets continued in Australia into the second half of the twentieth century; these were known as dunnies and the workers were dunnymen.
Society and culture
Income
Examples by country:
* Sanitation workers typically earn an average monthly salary of $2,226 in the United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
, although this figure can vary widely between states. As of 2022, the salary in New York could range between $47,371 and $89,339. For instance, the state of New York provides total annual wages of up to $91,336 for sanitation workers after 20 years of service. In 2020, some sanitation workers in New York City earned up to $300,000 as a result of shortage in staff and boosted pay due to snowstorms.
* Sanitation worker salaries in Zambia range from 870 ZMK ($42) per month as their minimum salary to 2,480 ZMK ($124) per month as maximum salary.
* In South Africa, public-sector sanitation workers are paid almost double compared to formal private-sector employees who are usually on a minimum wage only.
* In Tanzania, a casual laborer offering cleaning services (e.g., maintenance of toilet, occasional cleaning of drains and sewers) earns around 120,000 TSh per month ($ 52). A daily laborer employed for the assistance of a cesspit
A cesspit (or cesspool or soak pit in some contexts) is a term with various meanings: it is used to describe either an underground holding tank (sealed at the bottom) or a soak pit (not sealed at the bottom). It can be used for the temporary co ...
emptier earns around 210,000 TSh per month ($ 91).
Global goals
Improving the working conditions of sanitation workers is also important for reaching at least four of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) or Global Goals are a collection of 17 interlinked objectives designed to serve as a "shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future".United Nations (2017) R ...
(SDGs) of the United Nations. The working conditions of sanitation workers relate to "end poverty in all its forms everywhere" (SDG 1
Sustainable Development Goal 1 (SDG 1 or Global Goal 1), one of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals established by the United Nations in 2015, calls for the end of poverty in all forms. The official wording is: "No Poverty".United Nations (20 ...
) ; "ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages" ( SDG 3); "ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all" ( SDG 6); and "decent work and economic growth" (SDG 8
Sustainable Development Goal 8 (SDG 8 or Global Goal 8) is about "decent work and economic growth" and is one of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals which were established by the United Nations General Assembly in 2015. The full title is to "F ...
).
Impacts of Covid-19 pandemic
During the Covid-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
, sanitation workers in some countries have been designated as "essential workers
A key worker, critical worker or essential worker is a public-sector or private-sector employee who is considered to provide an essential service. The term has been used in the United Kingdom in the context of workers who may find it difficult ...
" or even "corona warriors" to underscore their importance in the fight against COVID-19.
During the lockdowns of the COVID-19 crisis, sanitation workers continued work and experienced increased workloads. While there is little if any evidence to date of actual transmission of the SARS-CoV-2
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2) is a strain of coronavirus that causes COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019), the respiratory illness responsible for the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The virus previously had a ...
virus via waste, the presence of the viruses in fecal sludge and sewage has the potential of placing sanitation workers at greater risk.
Country examples
Africa
South Africa
In South Africa, sanitation work is mostly formalized. The different types of sanitation work are carried out via different arrangements in South Africa: sewer maintenance is carried out by public sanitation workers, whereas pit emptying is contracted out to the private sector. In the municipality of eThekwini (which includes Durban
Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...
, the third largest city in South Africa), there are "approximately 100 pit emptiers on any given day through 15 private contractors, plus 800 municipal sanitation workers".
Zambia
In Zambia, organizations such as the SNV Netherlands Development Organisation
SNV Netherlands Development Organisation is a not-for-profit international development organisation, established in the Netherlands in 1965.
Driven by the Sustainable Development Goals, SNV makes a lasting difference in the lives of people living ...
under their WASH SDG Programme and the Lusaka Water and Sanitation Company (LWSC) under a project known as the Lusaka Sanitation Programme (LSP) supported by international organizations including the German Corporation for International Cooperation GmbH, have been working on projects to "legalize and make sanitation workers more visible and create the recognition and respect that they so rightfully deserve."
Lusaka
Lusaka (; ) is the capital and largest city of Zambia. It is one of the fastest-developing cities in southern Africa. Lusaka is in the southern part of the central plateau at an elevation of about . , the city's population was about 3.3 millio ...
is one of the fastest-growing cities in Africa and the majority of the population live in informal, peri-urban settlements. Various organizations in Lusaka attempt to make sanitation workers more visible and create more recognition and respect for them. They also aim to design projects and processes that improve their working environment and conditions, and help to provide the required investments to support their enterprises.
Pit latrine emptiers empty the toilet pits and septic tanks in communities. They enter inspection holes and sewers to fix or unblock them and then transport the fecal waste to treatment plants, while maintaining the sanitation facilities. If septic tanks and pit latrines are not emptied regularly, waste flows into the groundwater, contaminating the environment and surrounding water supplies. The response from society towards pit emptiers is "stigmatized, lowly, and invalid" despite the importance of the work that they do.
Asia
Bangladesh
Bangladesh has sanitation workers in formal arrangement as well as informal arrangement (called "sweepers"). There are an estimated 5 to 6 million sweepers in Bangladesh. They use only basic tools, often without PPE. The informal “sweepers” in Bangladesh face financial and job insecurities, discrimination, and stigmatization. Many live in segregated "sweeper colonies", which are often slum
A slum is a highly populated urban residential area consisting of densely packed housing units of weak build quality and often associated with poverty. The infrastructure in slums is often deteriorated or incomplete, and they are primarily ...
-like. They tend to be dalits
Dalit (from sa, दलित, dalita meaning "broken/scattered"), also previously known as untouchable, is the lowest stratum of the castes in India. Dalits were excluded from the four-fold varna system of Hinduism and were seen as forming ...
(low-caste Hindus) and Christian and Muslim Bengalis.
The permanent workers have more secure positions than the informal workers, with a guaranteed income and other benefits, such as membership in the government emptiers’ union.
India
“Sanitation workers” can be used as a translation for the Hindi
Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...
word "'' safai karamcharis".'' This includes " manual scavengers", but also people who work as street sweeper
A street sweeper or street cleaner may refer to a person's occupation or to a machine that cleans streets.
Street sweepers have been employed in cities as "sanitation workers" since sanitation and waste removal became a priority. A stre ...
s, are employed to clean open spaces, collect solid waste, and clean open drains and public toilets. Another commonly used term is "Pourakarmikas" which includes manual scavengers, sewer workers, sanitation workers.
Sanitation workers in India are "overwhelmingly Dalit
Dalit (from sa, दलित, dalita meaning "broken/scattered"), also previously known as untouchable, is the lowest stratum of the castes in India. Dalits were excluded from the four-fold varna system of Hinduism and were seen as forming ...
s, and are in fact from ‘scavenging castes
Caste is a form of social stratification characterised by endogamy, hereditary transmission of a style of life which often includes an occupation, ritual status in a hierarchy, and customary social interaction and exclusion based on cultura ...
’". Programs like Swachh Bharat
Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM), Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, or Clean India Mission is a country-wide campaign initiated by the Government of India in 2014 to eliminate open defecation and improve solid waste management. It is a restructured version of ...
fight against caste-based discrimination in India.
An estimate in 2018 put the number of "sanitation workers" in India at 5 million (with 2 million working in high-risk conditions), and 50% of them being women. Typically, women are involved in the containment process since it requires fewer technical skills and a lower degree of technology, resulting in employment as school toilet and drain cleaners.
In India the term manual scavengers is used historically for a subsection of sanitation workers. The official definition in Indian law is "manually cleaning, carrying, disposing of, or otherwise handling, human excreta in an insanitary latrine or in an open drain or pit".[The Employment Of Manual Scavengers and Construction of Dry Latrines (Prohibition) Act, 1993](_blank)
Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation
The Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation was a ministry of the Government of India responsible for urban poverty, housing, and employment programs. It involved in national policy decisions and coordinates with Indian central minist ...
, Govt. of India. The practice has officially been banned since 1993 but still continues.
Other regions
Haiti
In Haiti, sanitation workers in the informal sector are called '' bayakou'', which comes from Haitian Creole
Haitian Creole (; ht, kreyòl ayisyen, links=no, ; french: créole haïtien, links=no, ), commonly referred to as simply ''Creole'', or ''Kreyòl'' in the Creole language, is a French-based creole language spoken by 10–12million people wor ...
. The capital Port-au-Prince
Port-au-Prince ( , ; ht, Pòtoprens ) is the capital and most populous city of Haiti. The city's population was estimated at 987,311 in 2015 with the metropolitan area estimated at a population of 2,618,894. The metropolitan area is define ...
is one of the largest cities in the world without a sewer system.
The following is analysis from VanRiper et al. about sanitation workers in Haiti:
"A 2018 report estimated that the sanitation system of the Port-au-Prince, Haiti metropolitan area supports 270 manual excavation livelihoods. Based on the population and household density of this metropolitan area, proportion of the regional urban population using latrines, and a conservative latrine-emptying frequency of 4.5 years. we estimate a ratio of 0.001 manual emptying professionals per latrine-using household. Furthermore, reports of manual excavators' team structure and working hours indicate an average team of three to four professionals working for two to three nights per latrine emptied. Assuming 2.5 professionals per team and the population of urban Nord Department using latrines, we estimate 42,000 manual pit-emptying exposure events per year; and with 16 h per job, this translates to over 800,000 annual hours of direct exposure by manual emptying professionals in the urban areas of the Nord Department.
In contrast, Sustainable Organic Integrated Livelihoods (SOIL) operates a container-based sanitation
Container-based sanitation (abbreviated as CBS) refers to a sanitation system where toilets collect human excreta in sealable, removable containers (also called cartridges) that are transported to treatment facilities. This type of sanitation ...
(CBS) service called that currently operates at a rate of 0.016 CBS excreta-handling professionals (collection and processing) per household. Assuming an 86% increase in efficiency brought about by increases in scale and customer density, if latrine-using households instead adopt CBS, this would yield a replacement ratio of two CBS excreta handlers per manual excavator. Furthermore, based on urban Nord Department latrine users, the equivalent sanitation coverage, provided by CBS services, would support over 500 safe excreta-handling livelihoods. An additional 100 plus livelihoods would be created if CBS was extended to the 20% of Haitian households who currently lack sanitation altogether. Thus, a transition to CBS would replace unsafe labor conditions with safe and reliable livelihoods and potentially increase employment opportunities while dramatically reducing exposure to sanitation workers. These changes would lift multiple community members from circumstances undermining the human right to sanitation, as well as safe and dignified employment. Many previous international efforts to improve the working conditions of manual excavators have been deemed unsuccessful and abandoned. While political systems may lack the enforcement resources to protect independent workers, CBS services provide a structure compatible with safety monitoring and worker protection, and confer dignity to employees. CBS is gaining recognition around the world, and recent research has taken on the question of scaling these operations and integrating them with inclusive sanitation planning. From a systems perspective, the social benefit of a stable and increased employment base in the community is created by CBS expansion."
See also
* Fecal sludge management
Fecal sludge management (FSM) (or faecal sludge management in British English) is the storage, collection, transport, treatment and safe end use or disposal of fecal sludge. Together, the collection, transport, treatment and end use of fecal slud ...
* Memphis sanitation strike
The Memphis sanitation strike began on February 12, 1968, in response to the deaths of sanitation workers Echol Cole and Robert Walker.Estes, S. (2000). `I AM A MAN A MAN?’: Race, Masculinity, and the 1968 Memphis Sanitation Strike. ''Labor ...
References
External links
Sanitation Workers Knowledge and Learning Hub
Sanitation Workers in India
- a 5-month long study of sanitation workers across India carried out in 2017
{{Public health
Cleaning and maintenance occupations
Sanitation