Ergonomic Intervention in the Sector of Waste Collection, with the Use of Deparis Guide Method: Case of the Municipality of Monastir in Tunisia

Despite the evolution of tools, equipment and work-organization, the collection of waste remains a difficult and dangerous sector. In the town of Monastir, in 2013, the number of operators assigned to the direction of cleanliness and environment was 63 and they ensured in average 1800–2000 tons of collected waste per month up to 3000 tons during the summer season. The current intervention had followed a request of the Mayor of the Municipality of Monastir which focused on the reorganization of the activity of collection of household and similar waste, with the objective to improve both the efficiency and the safety of work and the health of collectors and drivers of vehicles. We based our intervention on the 1st level of the Sobane Strategy: the Déparis guide on its initial version. The focus group was composed of ten actors in the business of waste collection, including key operators (drivers and garbage collectors) but also representatives of local of supervision and also of management (responsible for the municipal park district coordinator). The diagnosis had focused on physical work environments (buildings, equipment, tools, air hygiene, urban transport) but also on team organization and psychosocial factors. Consultation between the team work allowed to retain a number of proposed corrective actions focusing on machines and tools work, but also actions to re-design the work organization. Among these propositions we mention the design and development of new work spaces in the municipal park taking into consideration both the needs but also the activities of operators and the organization of collective work. Over 80 % of the actions proposed by the working group were retained and implemented. Other more complicated aspects of the work situation were chosen as subject of future ergonomic intervention (e.g. computerization of the organizational process of the park) or further reflection objects in budgeting (installation alarm systems).