A Study Protocol to Assess the Respiratory Health Risks and Impacts amongst Informal Street Food Vendors in the Inner City of Johannesburg, South Africa.

Maasago Mercy Sepadi,Vusumuzi Nkosi

doi:10.3390/ijerph182111320

Abstract

The overall unemployment rate in South Africa was impacted by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, which led many people to resort to informal work such as street trading opportunities in big cities. However, this work is located in the same cities where air pollution is of concern. Furthermore, literature has indicated the lack of regulation of the informal trading sector as compared to the formal sector. An analytical cross-sectional study is proposed to be conducted amongst all of the informal food street vendors (indoor/inside buildings and outdoor/street pavements stalls) in the inner city of Johannesburg, South Africa. By adopting a total sampling method of 746 vendor stalls, this study’s key focus is on inhalation as an occupational exposure. In addition, the study aims to assess the respiratory risk factors amongst informal food street vendors’ stalls and their impact on vendors’ respiratory health. The risk factors to be assessed include the five common air pollutants: street vendor’s infrastructure; socioeconomic factors; personal behavior such as tobacco smoking and handwashing practices; wearing of respiratory protective equipment; and vendors’ exposure duration. The data collection will follow three phases using quantitative methods. In the pre-assessment phase, it will include a pilot study to test the walkthrough survey checklist and the respiratory symptoms and diseases questionnaire. The assessment phase includes a total of eight area samples, which will be taken in a 1-day event over four yearly seasons, as well as thirty personal samples taken in winter over an 8-h work shift. The post-assessment phase will be the development of a risk impact assessment and a risk management model. The study is essential for healthy occupational conditions as indicated in the Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Act (no. 85 of 1993) and the Regulations governing general hygiene requirements for food premises, the transport of food, and related matters (no. R638 of 22 June 2018).

Highlights

Many people resort to informal sector employment for various reasons such as lack of jobs or poor educational background, with informal trading as one of these many jobs [2]
This study focuses on two types of workplaces that are of concern, namely indoor and outdoor informal trading stalls
The United Nations (UN) (2020) recent data from 55 countries showed a median of three deaths and 889 non-fatal injuries occurring per 100,000 employees in the formal sector [49]

Summary

Introduction

In sub-Saharan Africa, including Southern Africa, it was stated that 89% of employment is informal [1]. Many people resort to informal sector employment for various reasons such as lack of jobs or poor educational background, with informal trading as one of these many jobs [2]. In the first quarter of 2021, South Africa’s (SA) Labor Force Survey reported an unemployment rate of 32.6% (about 7.2 million unemployed persons) [3]. The youth aged 15 to years and to 34 years recorded the highest unemployment rate of 63.3%

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Discussion

Conclusion