Spotlight on Sanitation Workers

Today is World Day for Safety and Health at Work and we want to shine the spotlight on sanitation workers around the world. The World Day for Safety and Health at Work has been observed by the International Labour Organization (ILO) since 2003. Its purpose has been to emphasise the prevention of accidents and diseases at work. This year’s theme and focus is inevitably ‘Stop the Pandemic’.

The policy recommendations brought forward by International Labour Organization, WaterAid, The World Bank Group and World Health Organization in their 2019 ‘Health, Safety and Dignity of Sanitation Workers’ report

Unsung Heroes

The COVID-19 crisis has brought up the importance of sanitation workers to our daily lives. Sanitation work has always been especially tough in low income communities. According to the World Health Organisation, sanitation work includes — but is not limited to — emptying toilets, pits and septic tanks; fixing and unblocking sewers and manholes and cleaning toilets within the public, home and business sphere.

Words such as ‘hidden’, ‘invisible’ and ‘vulnerable’ come up time and time again when we read and talk about sanitation workers. This is reflective of their reality in societies all around the world. The taboo of sanitation work is a concept that crosses borders. This is especially linked to sanitation work being defined as not ‘dignified’ and often not being formally recognised by governments.

Sanitation workers are often left unprotected both by the law and lack of guidelines of sanitation work. Through their…