1. Project description

Kathmandu the capital city of Nepal, produces the largest amount of waste. The waste management of Kathmandu is poor therefore, the lack of waste segregation at source poses a greater risk and threat to those working in the waste management sector. Most of the waste workers are uneducated and come from low-income families. They are not aware of safety measures and the waste management companies do not provide safety gear due to which their safety and health is always at risk. The purpose of the project is to aware waste workers about occupational safety and health and basic first-aid training. The project also aims to conduct a full body medical checkup which should be done at least once a year. This project provided safety boots and hats to 25 waste workers under this project.

2. Project progress

At first, our organization contacted two waste management companies who provided their service in Nagarjun municipality. Among them one company, NepseMyak, was glad to hear about the idea and they extended their support to complete the project.

1. Meeting with NepseMyak

A meeting with the Sr. Administrator of NepseMyak was conducted before the start of project to orient about the project details. Then 25 waste workers who are directly involved in handling the waste were selected by the help of the company. This included few females whose major responsibility is to sweep the different places of the municipality.

2. Awareness on Occupational Safety and Health (OSH)

Mr. Youb Raj Bhatta, OSH expert, also working in various project of Nepal Government under Department of Roads, provided one-day awareness class to the waste workers. The waste workers shared their experience in the session and were positive to receiving the awareness. They learned the risks associated with handling the waste and impact of safety gear to tackle the issues.

3. Whole body medical checkup

The whole-body medical checkup of 25 waste workers was done in National Public Health Laboratory, Teku, Kathmandu. This involved checkup of premium health package (Urine R/E, Glucose F, CBC, RFT, TFT (T3, T4, TSH), Lipid Profile, Uric Acid, Total Protein, Albumin, Calcium, LFT, VLDL) for all males and females and CA125 (Blood/Serum) for females. Due to the low income of waste workers, almost all of them did not do regular medical checkup. They were satisfied with this project activity because this could help them to know about their health condition.

4. First-aid training

Mrs. Uma Acharya, a health professional, of Red Cross Society- Sitapaila Branch, provided a short awareness and basic of first-aid training. Her session involved the basics of handling the small cuts or accidents occurred during the waste handling. The participants realized the importance of first-aid to minimize the impacts of small wounds occurred in their work.

5. Distribution of Safety Boots and Hats

On the final day of the project, Mrs. Sushila Adhikari, Deputy Mayor of Nagarjun Municipality, graced the program and handed safety boots and hats along with the handbook of handling waste and safety measures to the 25 waste workers. The project was concluded with the commitment of NepseMyak to organize such activities in the future and implement safety rules in their workplace for all waste workers.

3. Photos