Working With Sewage

1
Working With Sewage

• Introduction
• Are you at risk?
• Protecting yourself
• If you become ill

2
Sewage

• Work activities may bring you into contact with
  sewage products
• These products may make you ill
• Illness is usually mild gastroenteritis
• There is a risk of developing a more serious
  disease
• Most illnesses go unreported

3
Sewage

• You could become ill by coming into contact with
  micro-organisms present in the sewage -

• Bacteria
• Viruses
• Parasites

4
What are the health risks?

• Gastroenteritis
• Weils disease (Leptospirosis)
• Hepatitis
• Asthma
• Skin/Eye infections
• inflammation of the lungs

5
How you become infected

• eating, drinking, smoking, wiping the face with
  contaminated gloves
• cuts, scratches or wounds and some organisms
  enter the body through the eyes
• either as dust or mist

• Hand-to-mouth contact
• Skin contact
• Breathing

6
Are you at risk?

• On site at a water treatment works
• On a site with a high rat population
• On a site near portable toilets
• On a site near fresh water
• Handling sewage equipment in the works

7
Are you at risk?

• Animal urine - particularly rats
• All freshwater courses
• Dead animals - small rodents birds
• Soil where animals have been
• Most likely in warm weather

8
Protecting yourself

• Understand the risks
• Understand how you may be infected
• Wear protective clothing
• Avoid sewage if possible
• Apply good personal hygiene
• Cleanse all wounds cover
• Change out of contaminated clothing
• Clean equipment boots etc on site

9
If you become ill

• Report any flu-like illness or fever to your
  doctor
• Report any persistent chest problems to your
  doctor
• Report any illness to your employer
• Tell your doctor you have been working with sewage

10
Top Risk Occupations Hobbies

• Water Leisure Industry Workers
• Agricultural Workers
• Fishermen Water Sports Enthusiasts
• Plumbers
• Construction Workers
• Sewage Workers
• Forestry/Countryside Workers

11
Sewage - recap

• Most illnesses are mild
• Most illnesses are caught through hand-to-mouth
  contact
• If in doubt - see your doctor