Effective Safety and Health Measures in Preventing H2S Poisoning among Wastewater Network Operators

Waste water networks were constructed and established to collect and transfer the swage in cities. In this regard, the occupation related to the operation of wastewater networks was created and flourished to improve and study the application of networks. One of the hazards that threaten the life of wastewater operators is poisoning by inhalation of hydrogen sulfide gas produced by wastewater. The aim of this study was to investigate the effective safety and health measures in prevention of hydrogen sulfide gas poisoning among the wastewater network operators. This qualitative study was carried out on 23 operators who worked in the main lines of wastewater transfer in Tehran. In order to collect the data, we used the focused group discussion in five months; from August 1, 2017 to the end of December 2017. The results were collected using the databases' analysis and the focused group discussions. The collected information was implemented and practiced in various maneuvers under probable scenarios and the possibility of operating them was investigated. The average age of participants was 34.8 years and they were in the range of 24- 51 years. Participants were male and their educational degrees included diploma and lower degrees (N =4), bachelor's degree (N =11), and master's degree (N =3). The effective control measures to prevent H2S poisoning were classified into three categories of engineering controls, managing controls, and using the personal protective equipment. The results showed that the highest frequency of efficient control measures was related to engineering controls, which indicated the high effect of engineering maneuver on the prevention of H2S poisoning among operators of wastewater networks. Management controls and use of personal protective equipment were in the next steps, respectively. In order to have complete efficiency, we should consider the control measures in all three areas.