Pre-Conference - WHO Roundtable - Breath clean air: everywhere, for everyone - Protecting workers for air pollution outdoors and indoors

Background The Universal Declaration on Human Rights proclaims that everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favourable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment. All the 3.5 billion workers in the world have the right to breath clean air at their workplaces, as well as at their homes, cities and villages. Pollution of air at the workplace, being in indoor in the work premises, or during work outdoors is harmful to health and can be prevented. For this reason the 13th WHO General Programme of Work (2019–2023) states that “with respect to air pollution (i.e. outdoor, household and workplace air pollution) and climate change mitigation, WHO will scale up its work with different sectors − including transport, energy, housing, waste, labour and urban planning − at the national and local level to monitor air quality, develop strategies for transitioning to healthier technologies and fuels and for ensuring that all populations breathe air that meets the standards of WHO’s air quality guidelines, and that scientific evidence will be translated into effective policies.” WHO has estimated outdoor air pollution causes 4.2 million premature deaths worldwide every year among the general population, including workers. In 2016, 91% of the world population were living in places where the WHO standards for air quality were not met. The main pollutants of outdoor air include: (1) particulate matter - Fine Particulate Matter (PM2.5) and Coarse Particulate Matter (PM10); (2) Ozone (O3); Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2); and (3) Sulfur dioxide (SO2). Outdoor air pollution can cause asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases and impaired lung function, lung cancer, heart attacks and stroke. Children and adults with preexisting asthmatic and respiratory condition and those with high risk of cardio- and cerebro-vascular diseases are particularly at risk. Air pollution is recognized as human carcinogen (group A) by the International Agency for Research on Cancer. Outdoor workers are particularly vulnerable to ambient air pollution. Worldwide at least 1,2 billion workers work outdoors most of their work time. These include agricultural workers, street vendors and delivery workers, urban transport, traffic police, and road repair, construction, waste collection etc. In addition to breathing polluted air, such workers are often exposed to other environmental risks, such as heat and cold, heavy rain, wind and other climatic conditions as well solar UV and allergenic pollens. In addition, outdoor workers are exposed to a range of occupational hazards arising from their specific work activities – fumes, particles and fibers, toxic chemicals, noise, vibrations, manual handling of loads, awkward work posture, psychological harassment and accidents. The evidence on the health impacts of occupational exposure to outdoor air pollution is scarce – few recent studies have found impairment in the lung function of exposed workers. Occupational exposure to outdoor air pollution is a concern, because the exposed population is large and because the conventional measures for engineering controls of workplace hazards, such as hazard elimination, encapsulation and ventilation are not applicable to the outdoor environment. Also, employers and workers themselves may have little or no control over the sources of outdoor air pollution. However, all workers, including those working outdoors, should enjoy the right to favorable working conditions and to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health. Decent work means also being able to breath clean air at work. Air pollution in indoor workplaces is also a major concern and has been traditionally addressed by the occupational health and safety regulations and programmes. Sources of air pollution in indoor workplaces include technological processes, burning of materials and waste, cleaning, transport vehicles and engines with internal combustion, heating etc. Air pollutants at the workplace include a very wide range of chemical substances and preparations, gases, fumes and aerosols, particles, fibres etc. The levels of exposure to air pollutants at the workplace can be much higher that outdoors. The health effects can be systemic toxic effects and acute poisonings, allergies, such as asthma, chronic respiratory diseases, and cancer. WHO estimates that health effects of occupational exposure to selected air pollutants at the workplace can cause more than 860,000 deaths a year. The real magnitude of the health impacts on workplace air pollution is likely to be much higher, but it is difficult to quantify the global burden of disease given the wide diversity of air pollutants and occupational exposures in the different workplaces, sectors and activities.