IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v19y2022i14p8628-d863559.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Occupational Health Sufferings of Child Waste Workers in South Asia: A Scoping Review

Author

Listed:
  • Hasna Hena Sara

    (BRAC James P Grant School of Public Health, BRAC University, Dhaka 1212, Bangladesh)

  • Anisur Rahman Bayazid

    (BRAC James P Grant School of Public Health, BRAC University, Dhaka 1212, Bangladesh)

  • Zahidul Quayyum

    (BRAC James P Grant School of Public Health, BRAC University, Dhaka 1212, Bangladesh)

Abstract

Background: Child labor remains a health hazard, affecting the mental, physical, and emotional well-being of children. Children engage in waste management through various channels while constantly working to create a healthier and cleaner environment and exposing themselves to numerous health risks. Thus, this scoping review aims to explore the occupational injuries, health hazards, and sufferings of child waste workers in South Asia. Methods: Following the PRISMA guidelines, a scoping review of available relevant scientific literature was completed to comprehensively analyze the extent of child waste workers’ health suffering. Online databases PubMed, SCOPUS, and Google Scholar were searched for predefined criteria. Collected references were screened with Rayyan web tools and Endnote. Based on study inclusion criteria, a thematic synthesis was performed on the findings of 12 articles. Results: This study’s findings provided deep insights into the most prevalent occupational health sufferings among child waste workers, as depicted in the available literature. Prevalence of injuries like cuts and wounds was found predominant. These injuries are caused by the collection, transportation, dumping, and recycling of waste. Respiratory, musculoskeletal, and skin diseases are more prevalent among child waste worker children than in control groups of the same socioeconomic backgrounds. A higher chance of genetic or neuro-degenerative disorder and DNA mutation indicates a long-term effect on the children working in the waste management sector. Psychological sufferings were the least explored, although very common among child laborers. MPD (Minor Psychiatric Disorder) was very high among waste workers. Regarding healthcare-seeking behavior, traditional methods are preferable rather than formal health facilities. More research is required in this area due to a lack of evidence on the health problems of child waste workers. Conclusions: Occupational hazards were myriad among child waste workers. Though many children are involved in waste management, they are typically excluded from mainstream child protection and support systems, making them more exposed to occupational harassment and injury. Policymakers should design specific programs for these vulnerable groups considering the issues below, i.e., provide protective equipment such as facemasks, gloves, footwear, and rag sorting tools to safeguard them from physical damage and illness, ensure access to health care, to school, and provide basic nutrients to them. Furthermore, the authorities should think of alternative income generating programs for these groups of children.

Suggested Citation

  • Hasna Hena Sara & Anisur Rahman Bayazid & Zahidul Quayyum, 2022. "Occupational Health Sufferings of Child Waste Workers in South Asia: A Scoping Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(14), pages 1-24, July.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:14:p:8628-:d:863559
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/14/8628/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/14/8628/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Wittmer, Josie, 2021. "“We live and we do this work”: Women waste pickers’ experiences of wellbeing in Ahmedabad, India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 140(C).
    2. Natasha B. Scott & Nicola S. Pocock, 2021. "The Health Impacts of Hazardous Chemical Exposures among Child Labourers in Low- and Middle-Income Countries," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(10), pages 1-34, May.
    3. M. A. Rifat & Asit Biswas & Hazera Binte Sufian & Faria Azad & MD Khurshidul Zahid, 2018. "Socio-Economic Status, Hygiene Practices and Microbial Exposure of the Waste Collectors of Dhaka City in Bangladesh," Global Journal of Health Science, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 10(12), pages 1-96, December.
    4. Md. Mahmudul Alam & Mohammad Saeed Hossain & Nurul Islam & Md Wahid Murad & Niaz Ahmed Khan, 2021. "Impacts of health and economic costs on street children working as waste collectors in Dhaka City," Post-Print hal-03520146, HAL.
    5. Salma Ahmad & Ranjan Ray, 2014. "Health consequences of child labour in Bangladesh," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 30(4), pages 111-150.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Ekin Akdeniz, 2023. "Toward a Sustainable Human Resources Management: Linking Green Human Resources Management Activities with ISO Standards," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(3), pages 21582440231, August.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Delphine BOUTIN & Marine JOUVIN, 2022. "Child Labour Consequences on Education and Health: A Review of Evidence and Knowledge Gaps," Bordeaux Economics Working Papers 2022-14, Bordeaux School of Economics (BSE).
    2. Md Abdul Ahad & Mitu Chowdhury & Yvonne K. Parry & Eileen Willis, 2021. "Urban Child Labor in Bangladesh: Determinants and Its Possible Impacts on Health and Education," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 10(3), pages 1-14, March.
    3. Haruna Musa Moda & Daniel Mensah Anang & Newton Moses & Felix Mandoli Manjo & Victoria Ibukun Joshua & Nwadike Christopher & Paulina Doka & Mela Danjin, 2022. "Pesticide Safety Awareness among Rural Farmers in Dadinkowa, Gombe State, Nigeria," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(21), pages 1-10, October.
    4. Andika Wahab & Ramli Dollah, 2023. "Measuring Child Labor in Oil Palm Production in Sabah, Malaysia," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(4), pages 21582440231, October.
    5. Salma Ahmad & Ranjan Ray, 2014. "Health consequences of child labour in Bangladesh," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 30(4), pages 111-150.
    6. Aye Myat Thi & Cathy Zimmerman & Nicola S. Pocock & Clara W. Chan & Meghna Ranganathan, 2021. "Child Domestic Work, Violence, and Health Outcomes: A Rapid Systematic Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(1), pages 1-33, December.
    7. Szabolcs Lovas & Károly Nagy & János Sándor & Balázs Ádám, 2021. "Presumed Exposure to Chemical Pollutants and Experienced Health Impacts among Warehouse Workers at Logistics Companies: A Cross-Sectional Survey," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(13), pages 1-14, July.
    8. Rima R Habib & Diana Mikati & Josleen Al-Barathie & Elio Abi Younes & Mohammed Jawad & Khalil El Asmar & Micheline Ziadee, 2021. "Work-related injuries among Syrian refugee child workers in the Bekaa Valley of Lebanon: A gender-sensitive analysis," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(9), pages 1-17, September.
    9. Delphine Boutin & Marine Jouvin, 2022. "Child Labour Consequences on Education and Health: A Review of Evidence and Knowledge Gaps," Working Papers hal-03896700, HAL.
    10. Simon Feeny & Alberto Posso & Ahmed Skali & Amalendu Jyotishi & Shyam Nath & P. K. Viswanathan, 2021. "Child labor and psychosocial wellbeing: Findings from India," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(4), pages 876-902, April.
    11. S. M. Didar-Ul Islam & Prantor Kumar Mondal & Nathanael Ojong & Md. Bodrud-Doza & Md. Abu Bakar Siddique & Moazzem Hossain & Mohammed A. Mamun, 2021. "Water, sanitation, hygiene and waste disposal practices as COVID-19 response strategy: insights from Bangladesh," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 23(8), pages 11953-11974, August.
    12. Paul Chaney, 2017. "Limited Gains, Enduring Violations," Journal of South Asian Development, , vol. 12(3), pages 286-307, December.
    13. Brice Lionel Batomen Kuimi & Oduro Oppong-Nkrumah & Jay Kaufman & Jose Ignacio Nazif-Munoz & Arijit Nandi, 2018. "Child labour and health: a systematic review," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 63(5), pages 663-672, June.
    14. Kazi Abusaleh & M. Rezaul Islam & Md. Mokter Ali & Mohammad Asif Khan & Md. Shahinuzzaman & Md. Imdadul Haque, 2022. "Prevalence of Economic Exploitations and Their Determinants Among Child Labourers in Dhaka City, Bangladesh: A Mixed-Method Study," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 15(1), pages 87-106, February.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:14:p:8628-:d:863559. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.