Análisis de riesgos de la seguridad e higiene ocupacional durante el manejo de residuos sólidos y reciclaje de plástico polietileno.

Introduction. According to Pérez (2010) for each ton of waste generated by the consumption of any product, 25 tons of waste have been produced in the process of extraction of raw materials and manufacture of the product, which is why it is essential to perform a correct management of the residues taking into account the occupational safety and health risks that arise during the management. Objective. This paper identifies and evaluates occupational safety and health risks during the collection and segregation of solid waste as well as the conditioning, agglomeration and pelleting of recycled plastic. Materials and methods. The diagnosis of occupational safety was based on the registry of occupational accidents occurred in the period from July 2013 to June 2014, while the diagnosis in occupational hygiene was made from measurements of noise, illumination, thermal stress, vibration, particulate matter Total and breathable, manual handling of load and repetitive work. Results. It identified 77 hazards to which the company's workers are exposed. These hazards were assessed using the risk matrix developed by the Chilean Security Association (ACHS, 2009). Conclusion. The result of the evaluation reports that noise, total particulate matter and whole-body vibration are critical hazards, while manual handling of load, repetitive motion, heat and insufficient machinery protection are significant hazards. Almost all hazards with significant and critical risk are hazards of occupational hygiene, which implies that improvements must be made in the organization and infrastructure of the work environment as well as promoting a culture of accident prevention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]