Effectiveness of interventions to reduce flour dust exposures in supermarket bakeries in South Africa.
Occup Environ Med
; 71(12): 811-8, 2014 Dec.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-24899339
ABSTRACT
RATIONALE A recent study of supermarket bakery workers in South Africa demonstrated that 25% of workers were sensitised to flour allergens and 13% had baker's asthma. Evidence on exposure reduction strategies using specifically designed interventions aimed at reducing the risk of baker's asthma is scarce. OBJECTIVES:
The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of different control measures to reduce airborne flour dust exposure using a randomised design.METHODS:
A group-randomised study design was used to assign 30 bakeries of a large supermarket chain store to two intervention groups and a control group, of which 15 bakeries were studied. Full-shift environmental personal samples were used to characterise exposure to flour dust and wheat and rye allergens levels pre-intervention (n=176) and post-intervention (n=208).RESULTS:
The overall intervention effect revealed a 50% decrease in mean flour dust, wheat and rye allergen exposure. The reduction in exposure was highest for managers (67%) and bakers (47%), and lowest for counterhands (23%). For bakers, the greatest reduction in flour dust was associated with control measures such as the use of the mixer lid (67%), divider oil (63%) or focused training (54%). However, the greatest reduction (80%) was observed when using a combination of all control measures.CONCLUSIONS:
A specially designed intervention strategy reduced both flour dust and allergen levels. Best results were observed when combining both engineering controls and training. Further studies will investigate the long-term health impact of these interventions on reducing the disease burden among this group of bakers.
Texto completo:
1
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Asma
/
Alérgenos
/
Exposição Ocupacional
/
Poeira
/
Farinha
/
Manipulação de Alimentos
/
Doenças Profissionais
Tipo de estudo:
Clinical_trials
/
Etiology_studies
Limite:
Humans
País/Região como assunto:
Africa
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Occup Environ Med
Assunto da revista:
MEDICINA OCUPACIONAL
/
SAUDE AMBIENTAL
Ano de publicação:
2014
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
África do Sul