Urban Development Policy Making

Urban Development Policy Making

Determining the Impacts of Household Hazardous Wastes on the Occupational Injuries of working in Municipal by Delphi Method: A Qualitative Study

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
Houman Gholampour Arbastan 1
Hozhabr Gholampour Arbastan 2
1 Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran
2 Ph.D. Student of Business Administration, Management faculty, Islamic Azad University of Central Tehran Branch, Tehran, Iran
10.22034/judpm.2025.512943.1022
Abstract
Workers are exposed to the various compounds of waste and their consequences, in different waste management stages from collection to final disposal. Hazardous characteristics of some kind of household waste may affect occupational injuries in the waste management sector. This study aimed to investigate the occupational injuries of household hazardous wastes on municipal waste landfill workers by the Delphi method. The method used in the present study is classified into descriptive and qualitative categories. In the first step, all the consequences and occupational injuries associated with working in municipal solid waste landfills are extracted by reviewing previous studies. Next, extracted occupational injuries were ranked according to the degree of vulnerability to the presence of household hazardous waste based on the Delphi method. Findings of the present study shows that among 19 occupational injuries related to working in landfills, 6 occupational consequences including workplace accidents, healthcare, work-related illnesses, job stress, premature disability, and work indifference were detected as the most vulnerable to the presence of household hazardous waste. In order to encourage citizens to separate waste at the source of production, steps can be taken to increase public participation in the management of household hazardous waste, by using the capacity of Article (8) of the law and calculating the cost of waste management services based on the PAYT method, as well as attracting public participation by promoting public awareness and culture (taking advantage of the capacity of Articles (6) and (21) of the Waste Management Law).
Keywords
Household hazardous waste
Landfill
Occupational injuries
Waste management
Occupational diseases

Subjects

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Urban Development Policy Making
Volume 2, Issue 2
Summer 2025
Pages 159-171

  • Receive Date 19 February 2025
  • Revise Date 19 March 2025
  • Accept Date 20 April 2025
  • Publish Date 10 May 2025