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Fascinating piece of one of the invisible parts of our society. What really stood out to me was the fatal injury rate of 33 per 100,000 for trash collectors (i

Fascinating piece of one of the invisible parts of our society. What really stood out to me was the fatal injury rate of 33 per 100,000 for trash collectors (in general, obviously). That seems incredibly high.

dsfyu404ed 7y ago
They work on the side of the road, in proximity to heavy equipment, moving heavy objects, in all weather and the state doesn't go out of its way to make life a living hell for anyone who happens to harm them (accidentally or intentionally). It's no surprise that they have a higher fatal injury rate than cops and tow truck drivers who both only work under a subset of those conditions.
- jandrese 7y ago
  I wonder if those statistics include repetitive stress injuries as well? Lifting bulky heavy objects all day long is an excellent way to develop back injuries.
  - endorphone 7y ago
    Those stats are purely fatalities per year, which is why I found it so remarkable -- work in the industry for 3 years and you have had a 1 in 1000 chance of dying on the job. I imagine the injury/casualty rate is dramatically higher.
2rsf 7y ago
the rate is for general trash collection, not just those cans. From the link in the article: > Lam: Do you feel like you still need to be careful, even though you’re doing the same task every day? Veloz: Absolutely. Every time you get out of the truck and go to the [trash] box: Don't become complacent. In this business, if you become complacent, you're looking for death. It's very dangerous because the cable bringing up the box is like a slingshot. If you make one mistake, and break the cable, it'll come through the window behind you and it's not going to be a good situation. You've got wires overhead, you've got trees you could hit that could fall on the truck. I take every load like it's my first time. We also get safety bonus $10,000 every three years, which I’ve won.
- dajohnson89 7y ago
  that bonus should be paid every year. but it's a clever program.

dsfyu404ed 7y ago

They work on the side of the road, in proximity to heavy equipment, moving heavy objects, in all weather and the state doesn't go out of its way to make life a living hell for anyone who happens to harm them (accidentally or intentionally). It's no surprise that they have a higher fatal injury rate than cops and tow truck drivers who both only work under a subset of those conditions.

jandrese 7y ago
I wonder if those statistics include repetitive stress injuries as well? Lifting bulky heavy objects all day long is an excellent way to develop back injuries.
- endorphone 7y ago
  Those stats are purely fatalities per year, which is why I found it so remarkable -- work in the industry for 3 years and you have had a 1 in 1000 chance of dying on the job. I imagine the injury/casualty rate is dramatically higher.

2rsf 7y ago

the rate is for general trash collection, not just those cans. From the link in the article: > Lam: Do you feel like you still need to be careful, even though you’re doing the same task every day? Veloz: Absolutely. Every time you get out of the truck and go to the [trash] box: Don't become complacent. In this business, if you become complacent, you're looking for death. It's very dangerous because the cable bringing up the box is like a slingshot. If you make one mistake, and break the cable, it'll come through the window behind you and it's not going to be a good situation. You've got wires overhead, you've got trees you could hit that could fall on the truck. I take every load like it's my first time. We also get safety bonus $10,000 every three years, which I’ve won.

dajohnson89 7y ago
that bonus should be paid every year. but it's a clever program.