Park Jihoon, Kang Taesun, Jin Suhyun, Heo Yong, Kim Kyungran, Lee Kyungsuk, Tsai Perngjy, Yoon Chungsik
a Department of Environmental Health Sciences , Institute of Health and Environment, Graduate School of Public Health, Seoul National University , Seoul , Korea.
b Department of Environmental and Safety Engineering , Ajou University , Suwon , Korea.
J Agromedicine. 2016;21(2):144-8. doi: 10.1080/1059924X.2016.1141735.
Livestock workers are involved in a variety of tasks, such as caring for animals, maintaining the breeding facilities, cleaning, and manure handling, and are exposed to health and safety risks. Hydrogen sulfide is considered the most toxic by-product of the manure handling process at livestock facilities. Except for several reports in developed countries, the statistics and cause of asphyxiation incidents in farms have not been collected and reported systematically, although the number of these incidents is expected to increase in developing and underdeveloped countries. In this study, the authors compiled the cases of work-related asphyxiation incidents at livestock manure storage facilities and analyzed the main causes. In this survey, a total of 17 incidents were identified through newspapers or online searches and public reports. Thirty workers died and eight were injured due to work-related tasks and rescue attempts from 1998 to 2013 in Korea. Of the 30 fatalities, 18 occurred during manure handling/maintenance tasks and 12 during rescue attempts. All incidents except for one case occurred during the warm season from the late spring (April) to early autumn (September) when manure is likely to decompose rapidly. It is important to train employees involved in the operation of the facilities (i.e., owners, managers, employees) regarding the appropriate prevention strategies for confined space management, such as hazard identification before entry, periodical facility inspection, restriction of unnecessary access, proper ventilation, and health and safety. Sharing information or case reports on previous incidents could also help prevent similar cases from occurring and reduce the number of fatalities and injuries.
畜牧工人参与各种任务，如照料动物、维护养殖设施、清洁和处理粪便，并且面临健康和安全风险。硫化氢被认为是畜牧设施粪便处理过程中最具毒性的副产品。除了发达国家的几份报告外，尽管预计发展中国家和不发达国家此类事件的数量会增加，但农场窒息事故的统计数据和原因尚未得到系统收集和报告。在本研究中，作者汇编了畜牧粪便储存设施与工作相关的窒息事故案例，并分析了主要原因。在本次调查中，通过报纸、在线搜索和公开报告共确定了17起事故。1998年至2013年期间，在韩国有30名工人因与工作相关的任务和救援尝试而死亡，8人受伤。在这30起死亡事故中，18起发生在粪便处理/维护任务期间，12起发生在救援尝试期间。除一起事故外，所有事故均发生在春末（4月）至初秋（9月）的温暖季节，此时粪便可能迅速分解。对参与设施运营的员工（即业主、经理、员工）进行关于有限空间管理的适当预防策略培训非常重要，例如进入前的危险识别、定期设施检查、限制不必要的进入、适当通风以及健康和安全方面的培训。分享以前事故的信息或案例报告也有助于防止类似案件的发生，并减少伤亡人数。
