Health, safety and dignity of sanitation workers: an initial assessment
The publication - “Health, Safety and Dignity of Sanitation Workers” - produced jointly with the International Labour Organization (ILO), The World Bank and WaterAid - examines nine case studies of sanitation workers in low and middle-income countries, who empty pits and tanks, transport faecal sludge and perform sewer maintenance. It describes the workforce as “invisible, unquantified, and ostracized” and insists that many of the challenges that sanitation workers face stem from a lack of acknowledgment for what they do. While the workers include full-time employees with health benefits, pensions and legal protection, a significant proportion comes from some of the “most marginalized, poor and abused members of society”.
