Abstract:
The overall unemployment rate in South Africa was impacted by the coronavirus (COVID-19)
pandemic, which led many people to resort to informal work such as street trading opportunities
in big cities. However, this work is located in the same cities where air pollution is of concern.
Furthermore, literature has indicated the lack of regulation of the informal trading sector as compared
to the formal sector. An analytical cross-sectional study is proposed to be conducted amongst all of
the informal food street vendors (indoor/inside buildings and outdoor/street pavements stalls) in the
inner city of Johannesburg, South Africa. By adopting a total sampling method of 746 vendor stalls,
this study’s key focus is on inhalation as an occupational exposure. In addition, the study aims to
assess the respiratory risk factors amongst informal food street vendors’ stalls and their impact on
vendors’ respiratory health. The risk factors to be assessed include the five common air pollutants:
street vendor’s infrastructure; socioeconomic factors; personal behavior such as tobacco smoking and
handwashing practices; wearing of respiratory protective equipment; and vendors’ exposure duration.
The data collection will follow three phases using quantitative methods. In the pre-assessment phase,
it will include a pilot study to test the walkthrough survey checklist and the respiratory symptoms
and diseases questionnaire. The assessment phase includes a total of eight area samples, which
will be taken in a 1-day event over four yearly seasons, as well as thirty personal samples taken in
winter over an 8-h work shift. The post-assessment phase will be the development of a risk impact
assessment and a risk management model. The study is essential for healthy occupational conditions
as indicated in the Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Act (no. 85 of 1993) and the Regulations
governing general hygiene requirements for food premises, the transport of food, and related matters
(no. R638 of 22 June 2018).
