Occupational health risk assessment based on dust exposure during earthwork construction

As the most serious phase of construction pollution, the earthwork construction phase emits a large amount of dust into the environment and causes serious health hazards to construction workers. To reveal the characteristics of the health risks to workers caused by the dust generated during the earthwork construction phase, to polish the evaluation system of health damage in construction projects, and to improve the occupational health of workers, in this study, a health risk evaluation system was established based on the measured data and difference in the working contents of the works in the earthwork construction phase. Such an evaluation system consists of both measurements of dust exposure and the quantification of health risks. In this paper, the actual dust exposure of different workers was firstly monitored based on the differential characteristics of the work content of practitioners in the earthwork construction phase. The disability-adjusted life year (DALY) was then adopted to quantify health risks and brought them economic significance through the willingness to pay (WTP). The said evaluation system was applied to the earthwork construction phase of certain house construction to obtain dust health damage values for different work types and to conduct comparative analysis. The dust suppression effect of the spray system and application of protective masks in construction work were considered for the first time. During the construction phase of earthwork, the health risks of workers caused by dust pollution were increased. Moreover, there were obvious differences between the various types of work. Wearing protective masks and spraying systems could effectively reduce health risks. Overall, the protective mask and spray dust control system reduced the health risk by 67.54% and 38.56%, respectively, while the health risks for the use of both measures could be reduced by 76.89%. In addition, effective dust control measures were proposed according to the results of this study, which provide references for workers to strengthen dust-proof works. Using the methodology and results of this study, construction companies can systematically manage construction operations, consider the critical equipment to be used, and effectively manage dust generated from the construction site.