Parameters assessed | Existing controls in place | Risk factors |
---|---|---|
Cleaning of walls and floors | Germogon targets Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria Citriklenz targets Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, yeast and moulds | none |
Cleaning safety boots after underground shift | Vitroglo targets Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, yeast and moulds | Used for sanitizing, cleaning and deodorizing sanitary ware as per manufacturers instruction |
Laundering | Dirty and clean laundry segregated Presence of dedicated washing machines for male and female clothes | No laundering of towels used in change rooms |
Personal Protective Equipment | Provided before each shift | Sharing of gloves between workers Workers washed protective clothing with untreated water and hung them for drying at the underground surface |
Dressing of infectious wounds | Individually wrapped packs provided for each worker in the occupational health clinic | none |
Waste disposal | Re-usable medical waste bins and sharps containers for disposal of biological waste Waste collected and disposed by a subcontractor | none |
Hand hygiene | All consultation rooms and change rooms had dedicated soap dispensers and basins for hand washing | No soap provided underground and untreated water was used to rinse hands and cool bodies |
Drinking water quality | Week 1: TPC = 14,500 cfu/ml, faecal coliforms = 1 cfu/100 ml Week 2: TPC = 6130 cfu/ml Week 3: TPC = 1018 cfu/ml, faecal coliforms = 19 cfu/100 ml | TPC were above the limits of 1000 cfu/ml, coliform counts > 10 cfu/100 ml and presence of faecal coliforms |
Engineering controls | Presence of ultraviolet germicidal irradiation lamps for infection control in change rooms | Some lights were non-functional and there was no evidence of service records and maintenance stickers |
Environmental factors | Temperature and humidity monitored by an occupational hygienist underground | Temperature and relative humidity (dry bulb) ranging from 30.5 °C–31.3 °C and 61.1–91.0% |