Occupational Health Hazards in Resource Recovery Facilities
Managing Health Hazards in Resource Recovery Facilities
Resource recovery facilities are by nature home to a variety of hazards and potential dangers. These sites collect a wide range of industrial waste including concrete, wood, bricks, rocks, soil, and more. These facilities not only pose a risk to workers but can also impact nearby properties, communities, waterways, and other areas of the surrounding environment when inadequately managed. As the hazards presented by any particular site can vary, it is vital that their individual risks are examined and appropriate controls are implemented to ensure that health and safety regulations established by the Environment Protection Authority (EPA) and Safe Work Australia are met. The EPA also provides a useful publication for waste and recycling so that businesses understand their responsibilities and how they can manage the risks.
Hazards and Risks Affecting Workers in Resource Recovery Facilities
Resource recovery centres are vital facilities that collect, sort, and consolidate waste and recyclable materials however they present a variety of hazards that can affect the health and safety of workers, the site and the surrounding environment and community. Businesses, whether a company or sole trader, are required by the EPA to reduce or minimise the impact of business activity on the environment as much as is reasonably practicable and have a duty of care to ensure the health and safety of workers while they are undertaking work at the premises. Significant hazards at recovery facilities include:
Dust: Exposed stockpiles of construction waste, the handling and processing of certain materials and movement of heavy-duty vehicles all result in dust particles becoming airborne. In some instances, these can also include asbestos and silica and poses a major hazard to workers when there is inadequate control measures in place. Depending on the length of exposure and the types of dust inhaled, exposure to dust in recovery facilities can result in a range of health issues, from skin irritation to serious lung diseases such as cancer or silicosis. Workplace exposure standards have been established to ensure that workers are not exposed to a harmful level of dust particles that could negatively impact their health. According to the Safe Work Australia guide, Guidance On The Interpretation Of Workplace Exposure Standards For Airborne Contaminants, dust monitoring is compulsory when a business is unsure if they are exceeding the workplace exposure standard or when there is a need to determine if there is a health risk. A list of workplace exposure standards for airborne contaminants is provided by Work Safe Australia.
Gas: Various hazardous gases are present in resource recovery facilities, with volatile organic compounds (VOCs) being of primary concern. VOCs are released by a variety of household products and building materials such as paints, cleaning supplies, furnishings, adhesives, building partitions and fuels. The exposure to these can cause headaches, nose and throat discomfort, nausea, fatigue, conjunctival irritation, dyspnea, emesis and more. Other significant gas concerns in these facilities include methane (CH4), a colourless and odourless gas that is extremely flammable in high concentrations. Methane gas occurs naturally in the ground but can also be produced by organic waste. Similarly, hydrogen sulphide (H2S) is also colourless gas produced by organic waste; however it gives off the smell of rotten eggs and is extremely toxic, damaging the respiratory system and result in headaches, poor memory and loss of balance, even at lower concentrations.
It is important to note that facilities that only accept construction and demolition waste made up of inert materials will not produce methane or hydrogen sulphide. These gases are also subject to workplace exposure standards that must not be exceeded under any circumstance. As any individual’s reaction to these harmful substances can vary, workplaces must minimise exposure as much as is reasonably practicable, even below workplace exposure standards.
Noise: The continuous use of loud crushing and compacting machinery, vibrations from unmaintained equipment and loud sounds from heavy earthmoving vehicles are all hazards that not only impact worker health but may also cause disturbances to nearby communities and animal health. Noise pollution can cause temporary or permanent hearing loss, high blood pressure, sleep disturbances, stress, tinnitus and more, which is why it is regulated by the EPA under noise legislation according to volume, duration, intensity, location and other factors.
Managing and Monitoring Hazards Associated with Industrial and Construction Waste
The use of monitoring equipment is not only essential from a worker safety perspective but also to ensure compliance to the EPA exposure standards. Control measures such as using signage to enforce speed limits on vehicles and wearing respiratory protective equipment in areas with high concentrations of dust particulates are an effective means of greatly reducing hazards in resource recovery facilities. There are, however, limitations to the effectiveness of these controls, and it may not always be reasonably possible to completely eliminate a risk given that circumstances will vary among facilities.
Real-time monitoring with monitoring stations such as the AirMetER-AX Dust Monitoring Station are often required at such sites for compliance purposes. Dust monitoring stations, especially those with real-time data portals like LiveSense, offer site managers a powerful tool to ensure effective control measures are in place to prevent excessive exposure to a range of dust hazards. Dust monitoring stations like the AirMetER-AX which can monitor for dust, gases and noise all in one unit also provide site managers and safety personnel with the advantage of continuous monitoring, allowing businesses to identify, analyse, monitor and respond to hazards in real-time.
Unlike traditional methods of monitoring for hazards in resource recovery centres, real-time dust monitoring stations can also provide nominated site managers with the ability to set up alert notifications in the form of an SMS or email and access real-time monitoring logs. For sites interested in determining the concentration of airborne particulates, gravimetric air sampling can also be conducted with traditional air sampling pumps such as the SKC AirChek TOUCH Air Sampling Pump with the appropriate cassette and filter.Depending on the types of waste accepted, workers may be exposed to respirable crystalline silica (RCS). The national exposure standards require silica exposure levels to be below 0.05mg/m3 on an 8 hour TWA. Personal silica monitoring instrumentation like the Nanozen DustCount 9000 Personal Silica Dust Monitor can be used to assist workplaces in measuring worker exposure and to help determine if control measures currently in place are effective at managing and controlling RCS exposure.
Other instrumentation of interest for resource recovery facilities include sound level meters such as the TSI SoundPro which can be used to measure noise levels generated from operations on site. All workplaces are subject to noise regulations which require that employees may not be exposed to noise exceeding 85dB on an 8 hour TWA. Additionally, sites located near residential properties are also required to monitor noise levels to ensure business operations do not disturb the community with nuisance noise. This can be in the form of continuous unattended long-term monitoring or spot monitoring.
