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State of the Art of Occupational and Environmental Health in South Africa

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A special issue of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (ISSN 1660-4601). This special issue belongs to the section "Global Health".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 June 2022) | Viewed by 11791

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Special Issue Editors

Prof. Saloshni Naidoo

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Guest Editor

Discipline of Public Health Medicine, School of Nursing and Public Health, College of Health Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban 4041, South Africa
Interests: occupational and environmental exposures; women workers; healthcare workers

Prof. Dr. Rajen Naidoo

E-Mail Website
Assistant Guest Editor

Discipline of Occupational and Environmental Health, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban 4001, South Africa
Interests: occupational and environmental respiratory diseases; air pollution; informal workers

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The current state of Occupational and Environmental Health in South Africa is rooted in the country’s apartheid past. The emergent mining industry in the 19^th century in the country gave rise to concerns about the Occupational and Environmental Health of miners based on their living and working conditions. Interestingly the evolution of Occupational and Environmental Health has occurred in parallel with the political changes and transitions of the country. Legislative changes over the years have sought to address the Occupational and Environmental Health challenges posed by a burgeoning industrial sector, population growth, and growth in the economically active population in the country. Despite the legislative improvements in the country post-apartheid, most of the challenges, such as morbidity and mortality from occupational pneumoconiosis and infections, industrial air pollution, agrochemical worker, and population exposure, persist. Industrialization has seen women enter the workplace, and high levels of unemployment have resulted in the growth of the informal sector in the country. Newer challenges such as epigenetic changes, adverse neurodevelopment, and psychosocial stress have also emerged based on the way in which the South African population live and work in the presence of industrial development. The growth in Occupational and Environmental Health research in the country consistently highlights the existing challenges faced by the South African population.

This Special Issue invites articles that highlight the current state of Occupational and Environmental Health in South Africa.

Prof. Saloshni Naidoo
Prof. Rajen N. Naidoo
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2500 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

air pollution
environmental health
occupational health
risk communication
toxicology
worker exposure
population exposure
water pollution
informal and marginalized workers
women workers
occupational infections

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

12 pages, 568 KiB

Open AccessArticle

by Shahieda Adams, Mayuri Rajani, Roslynn Baatjies, Faieza Omar and Mohamed Fareed Jeebhay

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(5), 2915; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph19052915 - 02 Mar 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1295

Abstract

Background: This study evaluated health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in residents with persistent lower respiratory symptoms (PLRS) or asthma six years after exposure to sulphur dioxide vapours emanating from an ignited sulphur stockpile. Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out, using interview data collected at three time points (prior to, one- and six-years post incident), medical history, respiratory symptoms and HRQOL using the Medical Outcomes Study Form 36 (SF-36). Results: A total of 246 records, 74 with and 172 without PLRS or asthma, were analysed. The mean age was 42 (SD:12) years in the symptomatic group and 41 (SD:13) years in the asymptomatic group. Mean SF-36 scores were significantly lower for the symptomatic group in the Physical Functioning (24 vs. 39), Role—Physical (33 vs. 48) and General Health (GH) domains (24 vs. 37). Symptomatic residents experienced a significant decline in their Role—Physical (OR = 1.97; CI 1.09, 3.55) and GH (OR = 3.50; CI 1.39, 8.79) at year 6 compared to asymptomatic participants. Residents with co-morbid reactive upper airways dysfunction syndrome demonstrated stronger associations for GH (OR = 7.04; CI 1.61, 30.7) at year 1 and at year 6 (OR = 8.58; CI 1.10, 65.02). Conclusions: This study highlights the long-term adverse impact on HRQoL among residents with PLRS or asthma following a sulphur stockpile fire disaster. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue State of the Art of Occupational and Environmental Health in South Africa)

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14 pages, 335 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Correlates of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in Ambulance Personnel and Barriers Faced in Accessing Care for Work-Related Stress

by Itumeleng Ntatamala and Shahieda Adams

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(4), 2046; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph19042046 - 11 Feb 2022

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 3451

Abstract

We investigated factors associated with increased risk for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in ambulance personnel and the barriers faced in accessing support for work-related stress (WRS). A cross-sectional study of 388 ambulance personnel used self-administered questionnaires to assess for PTSD and level of occupational stressors: Impact of Event Scale-Revised, Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Critical Incident Inventory, EMS Chronic Stress Questionnaire, SF-36 Quality of Life and the Connor–Davidson Resilience Scale. The prevalence of PTSD in the study population was 30%. The participants were predominantly female (55%), with a median age of 38 (IQR; 31–44) years. PTSD was associated with smoking (OR = 1.76, 95% CI: 1.05–2.95), illicit drug use (OR = 16.4, 95% CI: 1.87–143.86) and problem drinking (OR = 3.86, 95% CI: 1.80–8.23). A self-reported mental health condition (OR = 3.76, 95% CI: 1.96–7.21), being treated for a medical condition (OR = 1.95, 95% CI: 1.22–3.11), exposure to critical incident stress (OR = 4.27, 95% CI: 2.24–8.15) and chronic WRS (OR = 4.46, 95% CI: 1.93–10.31) were associated with PTSD risk. Barriers to seeking help included concerns that services were not confidential and the negative impact on the participant’s career. The increased levels of WRS, strong associations with substance use and barriers to accessing care offer starting points for workplace interventions to reduce the impact of PTSD in ambulance personnel. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue State of the Art of Occupational and Environmental Health in South Africa)

10 pages, 2111 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Supervised Kohonen Self-Organizing Maps of Acute Asthma from Air Pollution Exposure

by Moses Mogakolodi Kebalepile, Loveness Nyaradzo Dzikiti and Kuku Voyi

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(21), 11071; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph182111071 - 21 Oct 2021

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1735

Abstract

There are unanswered questions with regards to acute respiratory outcomes, particularly asthma, due to environmental exposures. In contribution to asthma research, the current study explored a computational intelligence paradigm of artificial neural networks (ANNs) called self-organizing maps (SOM). To train the SOM, air quality data (nitrogen dioxide, sulphur dioxide and particulate matter), interpolated to geocoded addresses of asthmatics, were used with clinical data to classify asthma outcomes. Socio-demographic data such as age, gender and race were also used to perform the classification by the SOM. All pollutants and demographic traits appeared to be important for the correct classification of asthma outcomes. Age was more important: older patients were more likely to have asthma. The resultant SOM model had low quantization error. The study concluded that Kohonen self-organizing maps provide effective classification models to study asthma outcomes, particularly when using multidimensional data. SO₂ was concluded to be an important pollutant that requires strict regulation, particularly where frail subpopulations such as the elderly may be at risk. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue State of the Art of Occupational and Environmental Health in South Africa)

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15 pages, 399 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Occupational Risk of Airborne Mycobacterium tuberculosis Exposure: A Situational Analysis in a Three-Tier Public Healthcare System in South Africa

by Dikeledi O. Matuka, Thabang Duba, Zethembiso Ngcobo, Felix Made, Lufuno Muleba, Tebogo Nthoke and Tanusha S. Singh

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(19), 10130; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph181910130 - 27 Sep 2021

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2100

Abstract

This study aimed to detect airborne Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) at nine public health facilities in three provinces of South Africa and determine possible risk factors that may contribute to airborne transmission. Personal samples (n = 264) and stationary samples (n = 327) were collected from perceived high-risk areas in district, primary health clinics (PHCs) and TB facilities. Quantitative real-time (RT) polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used for TB analysis. Walkabout observations and work practices through the infection prevention and control (IPC) questionnaire were documented. Statistical analysis was carried out using Stata version 15.2 software. Airborne MTB was detected in 2.2% of samples (13/572), and 97.8% were negative. District hospitals and Western Cape province had the most TB-positive samples and identified risk areas included medical wards, casualty, and TB wards. MTB-positive samples were not detected in PHCs and during the summer season. All facilities reported training healthcare workers (HCWs) on TB IPC. The risk factors for airborne MTB included province, type of facility, area or section, season, lack of UVGI, and ineffective ventilation. Environmental monitoring, PCR, IPC questionnaire, and walkabout observations can estimate the risk of TB transmission in various settings. These findings can be used to inform management and staff to improve the TB IPC programmes. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue State of the Art of Occupational and Environmental Health in South Africa)

17 pages, 2731 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Ergonomic Risk Assessment during an Informal Hand-Made Cookware Operation: Extending an Existing Model

by Busisiwe Shezi, Renee A. Street, Angela Mathee, Nokulunga Cele, Sipho Ndabandaba and Rajen N. Naidoo

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(18), 9459; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph18189459 - 08 Sep 2021

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2055

Abstract

The work conducted in the informal sector is highly variable within and between days. Characterizing ergonomic exposures remains a challenge because of unstructured work settings and schedules. The existing ergonomic risk assessment tools have been widely used in formal work settings with a narrow range of exposure, and for predefined tasks that primarily constitute a daily routine. There is limited information in the literature on how they have been applied in informal workplaces. The aim of this study was to extend an existing risk assessment tool and to evaluate the applicability of the extended tool by assessing ergonomic exposure related to hand-made cookware operations. Eighteen hand-made cookware makers were recruited from six sites. A walkthrough risk assessment questionnaire was used to collect information on workers, tasks, work stations and workplace structures. The Rapid Upper Limb Assessment (RULA) screening tool was extended by including duration and vibration. An action priority matrix was used to guide intervention. According to the RULA action levels, the workers required investigation and changes soon, and immediate investigation and changes. The use of an action priority matrix was appropriate, and indicated that all the workers assessed were within the high to very high exposure domain and required immediate corrective measures. The methodology used proved to be an effective and reliable strategy for identifying ergonomic exposure among hand-made cookware makers. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue State of the Art of Occupational and Environmental Health in South Africa)

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