LAHORE, March 16: A lack of safety gadgets, training, awareness etc. is posing serious health hazards to Lahore Waste Management Company (LWMC) sanitary workers.

The situation is making them vulnerable to diseases like hepatitis and HIV/AIDS, Dawn has learnt.

Around 8,500 sanitary workers along with equipment and assets had been handed over to LWMC by the City District Government of Lahore in June 2011 under a 20-year agreement to improve city’s cleanliness system and mechanism for a sustainable environment. However, there was no considerable change in the system in terms of cleanliness and safety of workers’ health despite involvement of two Turkish firms hired by LWMC for the purpose.

During visits paid by this reporter to various areas of the city, it was found that most LWMC sanitary workers had neither health safety gadgets (masks, gloves etc.) nor they received any training on precautionary measures during waste collection and disposal. “The company has not given me masks or gloves to protect myself from hazards of waste we are collecting,” Saleem, a worker, told Dawn as he was disposing waste into an automated truck near Allama Iqbal Town’s Karim Block Market.

When asked about any training imparted by his employer since the beginning of his service, he said one of his seniors briefed him about the work and precautionary measures one-and-a-half years ago.

Kamran, another worker, said he asked his seniors twice to provide him masks and gloves, but they didn’t. He said workers were frequently suffering from various diseases because of a lack of safety gadgets. “Last month, I remained on leave for almost a week because of illness,” he added.

However, worker Shahbaz was among those who received masks and gloves from the administration. “They (my seniors) gave me these gadgets, but I rarely use them during duty because they make me uncomfortable,” he explained. He, however, said he had not been given any training to do his work safely and efficiently.

Talking to Dawn, Prof Dr Javaid Akram held LWMC and other authorities responsible for vulnerability of sanitary workers to communicable diseases. “I never saw these workers wearing gloves or masks during waste collection at hospitals,” he said. He said in the absence of safety gadgets, training, awareness and standard operating procedures, sanitary workers were more vulnerable to hepatitis B and C, HIV/AIDS, asthma, typhoid and skin allergy.

LWMC General Manager (Operations) Khalid Majeed says sanitary workers are responsible for the hazards to their health. “We have 8,400 sanitary workers at the moment and we have given masks, gloves and even uniforms to them, but they do not use them,” he said. He said the company had been facing issues relating to workers’ health. He said a lack of education among workers was a major barrier in the way of changing their behaviour. He said two Turkish firms working in zone-1 and 2 of the city were worried about the situation. He said the company had decided to punish the workers not using safety gadgets.