\n\t“Municipal Urban Cleaners on health and safety for better quality of life and wellbeing”<\/b><\/p>\n
\n\tMUC-training for health<\/strong> is a 36-month project (01\/11\/2020 – 31\/10\/2023) funded by the ERASMUS+ Programme of the European Union. The project aims to improve health and safety of Municipal Urban Cleaners (MUCs) by providing a modern, tailored made training curriculum on Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) issues.<\/p>\n \n\tWaste collection helps maintain cities clean and protects from diseases; hence it is considered a dangerous occupation, while municipal waste management represents the greatest and most diverse set of hazards of all waste management aspects. Waste collecting and municipal urban cleaning exposes workers to a variety of risk factors such as dust, bioaerosols, volatile organic matter and mechanical stress, which makes them susceptible to certain occupational diseases. In addition, because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic the cleaning industry is considered front line in terms of exposure. Although the health and safety needs of MUCs are well defined in the international research, training for these employees is limited and not repetitive. Data show that employees of the cleaning sector, often do not apply OHS rules during their work. Fast-paced work, combined with a lack of knowledge or underestimation of the risks, leads to dangerous behaviors for both themselves and the communities they serve. Usually, MUCs receive a short introduction to the job and a short overview of OSH issues, not followed up by subsequent training.<\/p>\n \n\tThe MUC-Training for health<\/strong> project aims to improve health and safety of MUCs. The project will develop an interactive, specialized training curriculum reflecting the needs of employees involved in the urban waste cleaning sector. The principal target groups are MUC workers and their representatives, as well as their supervisors and employers. In addition, we aim to reach related researchers, scientists and policy makers.<\/p>\n \n\tThe specific objectives of the project are to:<\/p>\n \n\t1. Develop an interactive training curriculum reflecting the needs of MUC and their supervisors.<\/p>\n \n\t2. Increase knowledge, skills and competencies, to identify and control occupational hazards, motivate involvement and build ownership in safety culture.<\/p>\n \n\t3. Evaluate the efficiency of an innovative educational practice, in health and safety, tailor made for MUC.<\/p>\n \n\t4. Establish communication channels for hazard reporting so workers know who to contact and how to prevent a potential accident.<\/p>\n \n\t5. Impact VET and educational systems in accommodating changes to academic curricula for health and safety professionals.<\/p>\n \n\tThe consortium consists of 6 organizations from 5 countries: Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece, Italy and Poland.<\/p>\n \n\t________________________________________<\/p>\n