{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,13]],"date-time":"2026-08-13T13:36:11Z","timestamp":1786628171749,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":32,"publisher":"Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health)","issue":"4","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,1]],"date-time":"2026-07-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1782864000000},"content-version":"unspecified","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc-nd\/4.0"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["lww.com","ovid.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":[],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,7]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>Street sweepers play a vital role in sanitation through solid waste management. They are exposed to a number of occupational hazards, including dust, infectious agents, ergonomics-related disorders, and injuries. Street sweepers are identified as sanitary workers and also municipal solid waste management workers, resulting in fragmentation of guidelines, manuals and legislations governing street sweepers. This necessitates a comprehensive review of existing policy, legal and implementation guidelines, which might apply to street sweepers in India. Content analysis of both policy and nonpolicy documents following the READ approach was done. Thrust areas related to health and safety measures were identified through thematic extraction of health and safety recommendations from the systematic reviews. The document search resulted in one key occupational health policy, four legal documents and nine implementation documents. The policy document analysis identified three key thematic areas, including Enforcement and Compliance, Standards and Awareness and Research, and Monitoring and Evaluation. It was found that there is no separate legislation governing the occupational health of street sweepers. The standards for equipment used, manuals, and job rotation are still in formative stages. There are no fixed medical criteria for joining and continuing as street sweepers. The thematic area research, monitoring, and evaluation was poorly represented. Street sweepers require separate legislation to govern their occupational health and safety. Appropriate standards for equipment, medical criteria for sweepers and regular monitoring should be set up. Researches should be carried out to explore the health risk of sweepers, especially ergonomic and respiratory-related illness.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.4103\/ijcm.ijcm_741_25","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,13]],"date-time":"2026-08-13T07:00:21Z","timestamp":1786604421000},"page":"603-610","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1097\/lww.0000000000001000","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Policy Silences and the Case for Dedicated Legislation for Street Sweepers in India: Policy Content Analysis using the READ Approach"],"prefix":"10.4103","volume":"51","author":[{"given":"Gajalakshmi","family":"Selvaraj","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Centre for Pollution Control and Environmental Engineering, Pondicherry University, Puducherry, India"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Abraham Prince Durai","family":"Elangovan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Centre for Pollution Control and Environmental Engineering, Pondicherry University, Puducherry, India"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Sudalai","family":"Subramani","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Centre for Pollution Control and Environmental Engineering, Pondicherry University, Puducherry, India"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mahalakshmy","family":"Thulasingam","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Preventive and Social Medicine, Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research, Puducherry, India"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"276","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,13]]},"reference":[{"key":"R2-20260813","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"82","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jup.2018.03.001","article-title":"The public health benefits of urban sanitation in low and middle income countries","volume":"51","author":"Cairncross","year":"2018","journal-title":"Util Policy"},{"key":"R4-20260813","article-title":"Scheme Guidelines - National Action for Mechanised Sanitation Ecosystem (NAMASTE)","year":"2023","journal-title":"Government of India"},{"key":"R5-20260813","article-title":"Municipal Solid Waste Management Manual","year":"2016","journal-title":"Ministry of Urban Development Government of India"},{"key":"R6-20260813","year":"2016","journal-title":"Solid Waste Management Rules"},{"key":"R7-20260813","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"112","DOI":"10.4103\/0019-5278.44691","article-title":"Occupational health hazards in sewage and sanitary workers","volume":"12","author":"Tiwari","year":"2008","journal-title":"Indian J Occup Environ Med"},{"key":"R8-20260813","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"224","DOI":"10.4103\/0970-0218.43226","article-title":"A study of morbidity pattern in street sweepers: A cross-sectional study","volume":"33","author":"Sabde","year":"2008","journal-title":"Indian J Community Med"},{"key":"R9-20260813","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1501768","DOI":"10.3389\/fpubh.2024.1501768","article-title":"Occupation-related respiratory diseases among sanitary workers in the workplace: A systematic review and meta-analysis","volume":"12","author":"Tolera","year":"2024","journal-title":"Front Public Health"},{"key":"R10-20260813","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"238","DOI":"10.1080\/10803548.2023.2293390","article-title":"Global prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders among sanitary workers: A systematic review and meta-analysis","volume":"30","author":"Tolera","year":"2024","journal-title":"Int J Occup Saf Ergon"},{"key":"R11-20260813","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1534","DOI":"10.1007\/s42399-020-00441-7","article-title":"A comparative study of prevalence of morbidities among municipal solid waste workers in Mumbai","volume":"2","author":"Salve","year":"2020","journal-title":"SN Compr Clin Med"},{"key":"R12-20260813","first-page":"108","article-title":"A cross-sectional study of pulmonary function tests among the municipal street sweepers of Chitradurga District, Karnataka","volume":"3","author":"Sangolli","year":"2018","journal-title":"IP Indian Journal of Immunology and Respiratory Medicine"},{"key":"R13-20260813","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"404","DOI":"10.1186\/s12879-023-08354-1","article-title":"Sero-prevalence of hepatitis viral infections among sanitary workers across worldwide: A systematic review and meta-analysis","volume":"23","author":"Tolera","year":"2023","journal-title":"BMC Infect Dis"},{"key":"R14-20260813","first-page":"1498","article-title":"What is life for job order street sweepers in the city governments of Davao region? A phenomenological study","volume":"11","author":"Lagura","year":"2018","journal-title":"Int J Manag Excell"},{"key":"R15-20260813","article-title":"Swachh Bharat Mission - Urban 2.0 - Operational Guidelines","year":"2021","journal-title":"Government of India;"},{"key":"R16-20260813","article-title":"The National Action Plan for Municipal Solid Waste Management","year":"2015","journal-title":"Government of India"},{"key":"R17-20260813","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"284","DOI":"10.1136\/jech.2008.082743","article-title":"Tackling the wider social determinants of health and health inequalities: Evidence from systematic reviews","volume":"64","author":"Bambra","year":"2010","journal-title":"J Epidemiol Community Health"},{"key":"R19-20260813","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1424","DOI":"10.1093\/heapol\/czaa064","article-title":"Document analysis in health policy research: The READ approach","volume":"35","author":"Dalglish","year":"2020","journal-title":"Health Policy Plan"},{"key":"R20-20260813","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"180","DOI":"10.29173\/jchla29801","article-title":"JBI Critical appraisal checklist for systematic reviews and research syntheses","volume":"45","author":"Hilton","year":"2024","journal-title":"J Can Health Libr Assoc"},{"key":"R21-20260813","first-page":"132","article-title":"Summarizing systematic reviews: Methodological development, conduct and reporting of an umbrella review approach","volume":"13","author":"Aromataris","year":"2015","journal-title":"JBI Evidence Implementation"},{"key":"R22-20260813","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"467","DOI":"10.7326\/M18-0850","article-title":"PRISMA extension for scoping reviews (PRISMA-ScR): Checklist and explanation","volume":"169","author":"Tricco","year":"2018","journal-title":"Ann Intern Med"},{"key":"R23-20260813","first-page":"69","year":"1970","journal-title":"Contract Labour (Regulation & Abolition) Act, 1970 & Rules 1971"},{"key":"R24-20260813","article-title":"National Policy on Safety, Health and Environment at Work Place","year":"2009","journal-title":"Government of India"},{"key":"R25-20260813","article-title":"Swachh Roads - Standard Operating Procedures","year":"2016","journal-title":"Government of India"},{"key":"R26-20260813","first-page":"127","article-title":"Sanitation worker safety and livelihoods in India: A blueprint for action","year":"2017","journal-title":"Phase 1: Understanding the problem. 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