Evaluation of physical strain of door-to-door waste collection operators. Study protocol.

Purpose: Door-to-Door waste collection system ensures the highest level of differentiation of urban waste. The manual collection operations, have an unfavorable impact on the health of collectors, increasing the number of professional diseases and work accidents. This study wants to investigate the physical effort of Door-to-Door waste collectors during their work shifts from a cardiovascular point of view and aims to implement the actual health safeguarding tools. Methods: The study group will involve 10–15 healthy male refuse collectors aged 25 to 50. The selected subjects will firstly complete a ramp-like protocol cardiopulmonary exercise test (CPX) for directly measured maximum oxygen consumption (VO2max). Then the subject will be monitored on field, for the duration of an entire shift, with a Polar H10 heart rate monitor. The heart rate recording will monitor the collection itineraries of different types of waste, done by a single operator truck. The work strain will be evaluated through two parameters, both based on the VO2-HR relationship: ventilatory thresholds overrun and Relative Aerobic Strain (RAS) as % of VO2max. Results: Evaluation of physical strain through the study of oxygen consumption could provide an indicator of the effort required by a waste collection shift. We expect to categorize itineraries based on the required effort. Any recorded heart rate peak during the shifts will be investigated, and action will possibly be taken to modify or eliminate the causes. Conclusions: The assessment of the strain could be a valid tool to implement personalized solutions to facilitate a more efficient and safe employment of workers. The work strain assessment could also offer to the enterprises new methodologies to design health protection. Work with high metabolic demand can lead to physical and mental fatigue, increase in work injuries, decrease in work performance, higher risk for cardiovascular diseases and early retirement. References: Asfour S.S., Genaidy A.M., Mital A..l Physiological guidelines for the design of manual lifting tasks: the state of the art. American Industrial Hygiene Association Journal, 49:4, 150-160 Frings-Dresen M.H.W., H. C. G. Kemper, A. R. A. Stassen, I. F. A. M. Crolla & A. M. T. Markslag (1995) The daily workload of refuse collectors working with three different collecting methods: a field study. Ergonomics, 38:10, 2045-2055 Preisser A.M., Linfei Zhou, Marcial Velasco Garrido, Volker Harth. Measured by the oxygen uptake in the field, the work of refuse collectors is particularly hard work: are the limit values for physical endurance workload too low? Int Arch Occup Environ Health (2016) 89:211–220