Occupational Health and Safety For Water Resource Recovery Facility Design

The Water Environment Federation (WEF) is a not-for-profit technical and educational organization of 33,000 individual members and 75 affiliated Member Associations representing water quality professionals around the world. Since 1928, WEF and its members have protected public health and the environment. As a global water sector leader, our mission is to...

Designing an efficient, resilient, and safe water resource recovery facility (WRRF) is potentially a complex and difficult task. Designers face the formidable challenge of ensuring that the facility will meet all performance criteria, while incorporating applicable safety and health considerations.

Illnesses affect fewer workers than many suspect. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that American workers experienced 206,000 illnesses during 2015, compared with 4,000,000 injuries during the same period of time (U.S. Department of Labor, 2009). Of those illnesses, 128,000 were uncharacterized, 35,000 were skin diseases, and 23,000 were hearing loss. Respiratory ailments affected 16,700...

Governments at all levels, including state, federal, and local governments, establish regulations, requirements, and codes that contain minimum occupational health and safety standards. Laws, regulations, codes, and agency guidelines require or recommend occupational health and safety provisions in WRRFs. These provide the facility owner and designer with minimum requirements and guidance....

The purpose of a safety program is to prevent accidents, injuries, illnesses, and damage. The term accident is the source of some controversy in the health and safety field. Some Americans understand the term to imply an unpredictable and uncontrollable incident. This connotation directly contradicts a principle that is central to the practice of safety—that is, accidents have causes...

Design elements that create safety in other types of facilities, such as insulated electrical fixtures, guardrails on open-sided floors, or clearly designated exits, are important in WRRFs. This manual assumes that designers will automatically include such features. This section focuses on the special needs of WRRFs. It does not describe important safety considerations that designers must take...

Although construction safety generally is the sole responsibility of the construction contractor, accidents during construction have negative consequences for the utility because they can cause the following: