Accidents are caused by unexpected dangers in the waste, from oncoming vehicles, or by unsafe employee behaviors, which is why constant safety training is necessary in this "high injury risk" industry.

By John T. Aquino

There's no way to discuss safety in the solid waste industry without acknowledging upfront that refuse collection, refuse disposal, and recycling are potentially dangerous activities. Waste professionals have made substantial efforts to make the industry as safe as possible through technology and training. But even they stress that there is no perfect solution and no letup in the need to train and train again for safety.

"We do believe that it is a high-risk industry–I prefer that to ‘dangerous,'" acknowledges James T. Schultz, vice president of health and safety for Waste Management Inc. (WMI) in Houston, TX. "And it is an unforgiving industry. If everyone does everything right, according to the rules, there's no problem. If not–well, as I said, it's unforgiving."

"Part of the problem," comments Chaz Miller, director of state programs for the National Solid Waste Manager Association (NSWMA) in Washington, DC, "is that there is a sort of belief that the truck will solve everything, that there will be a perfect collection system, and that's not the way it is. I drive behind trash trucks sometimes and see employees jump off while the truck is still moving. You have to keep training for safety because some employees just get comfortable and think they're invincible."

Adds Joe Williams, solid waste director for the City of Franklin, TN, "The horrible part is, as for danger on the job, I really believe that for every average given day, a local sanitation worker encounters more danger than firefighters and policemen. And don't get me wrong; I love firefighters and the police, and when the chips are down we don't have to run into burning buildings or confront people who have a gun or a knife–they have very specific, dangerous events they deal with. But for sanitation workers, on every eight-hour shift we spread our danger out, and it's always there."

Statistically Speaking

The dangerousness of the profession is well documented, anecdotally and statistically. New York City sanitation workers still remember Mike Hanly, whose face, just before his death, was on a job recruitment poster for the city sanitation department. On November 12, 1996, a container that had been left for pickup and that contained 70% hydrofluoric acid burst under the compactor blade of Hanly's truck. The explosion hit Hanly directly in the face, severely burning him. He died from inhaling the fumes. He was 49. After Hanly's death, sanitation workers consciously tried to stand away from the rear of the vehicle during compaction. A 5K memorial run in Hanly's name has been held annually in Brooklyn to raise funds for his family.

While Hanly's death was particularly well publicized–on the steps of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Sunset Park bagpipes played and 1,500 sanitation employees placed their hands over their hearts as Hanly's coffin was carried up the church steps–refuse collector fatalities are, sadly, too common. On May 4, 2000, Michael Julian Padilla, a Salisbury, MD, sanitation worker, was crushed against the back of his truck by a Nissan Pathfinder. The driver of the car said she never saw him. Kristopher Ridge, a 26-year-old City of Fort Worth, TX, solid waste employee, was killed on June 5, 2001, when he apparently fell from the garbage truck to which he was assigned and was run over.

Safety concerns in the solid waste business are not limited to collection. On May 7, 1998, two sanitation workers at the Fresh Kills Landfill in Staten Island, NY, became dizzy, delusional, and nauseous. One lost consciousness. The workers were rushed to the local hospital and, on the way, the paramedics attending them became ill. Seven other sanitation workers also were hospitalized for contact with some form of toxic emission. A study by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, released in January 1999, could not determine the cause of the incident.

On December 1, 1997, the theoretical possibility that recycling aerosol cans could result in an explosion–discussed and debated throughout the 1990s–became a reality. A shipment of aerosol cans containing hairspray opened after being fed into a bale at Joseph Damato Paperstock Recycling Facility in Patterson, NJ. A gaseous cloud developed, was then ignited by a spark from a forklift, and erupted into a ball of fire, killing Darisz Wisniewiski and severely burning Victor Lopez, the forklift operator. On April 9, 2002, Passaic County, NJ, officials charged two men with aggravated manslaughter in the case, claiming that Joseph Phil Damato accepted the hairspray cans even though the facility was not licensed to dispose of them and that Joseph Frank Damato directed Wisniewiski to compact trash containing the cans. The Criminal Investigation Division of the Environmental Protection Agency in Washington, DC, has assisted the state prosecution.

Statistically, refuse collection ranks third among dangerous jobs in the United States, behind fishing and timber cutting, according to a 2000 study of workers' compensation claims by the University of Miami and the Florida Center for Solid and Hazardous Waste Management. The study indicates that the high number of deaths can be attributed partly to impatient drivers who try to pass stopped garbage collection vehicles and end up hitting collectors. The study's findings place waste handling as a riskier occupation than being an airplane pilot or a taxi driver. According to the study's authors, the mortality rate for a refuse collector is 100 times higher than what is considered acceptable risk by any standard. The study notes that the injury rate is also high. Collectors, on average, are injured five to seven times more than the average worker, with 52.7 injuries per 100 workers. Most of those are back injuries and lacerations.

Some solid waste professionals have criticized the methodology of the Florida study and suggested that it is reflective of a larger worker compensation problem in that particular state. But a summer 1999 article in the Bureau of Labor Statistics's (BLS) publication Compensation and Working Conditions, focusing on national statistics from 1992 to 1997, also concluded, "Refuse collection is one of the most hazardous jobs in the country." The article based its analysis on four Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) codes considered to encompass the activity of refuse collection–4212, local trucking without storage; 4953, refuse systems; 5093, scrap and waste materials; and 334, secondary smelting and refining of nonferrous metals. According to BLS, the fatality rate for refuse collectors for that five-year period was 10 times the overall on-the-job fatality rate, averaging 46 deaths per 100,000 workers per year. The fatality rate for all occupations was 4.7 deaths per 100,000 workers. Vehicles inflicted the most deaths on refuse collectors. The BLS statistics also reflect a high number of nonfatal injuries and illnesses for refuse collection, mostly caused by overexertion and by being struck, striking against, or being compressed in equipment.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) in Washington, DC, issued Directive 2-02 (CPL 2)–OSHA 2001 Data Initiative on April 14, 2002. The Data Initiative is a nationwide collection of establishment-specific injury and illness data from approximately 80,000 establishments. It collects the data by using the OSHA Occupational Injury and Illness Data Collection Form. The 2000 injury and illness data collected by the 2001 Data Initiative are used in the 2002 Site-Specific Targeting program. Directive 2-02 lists all four SIC codes encompassing refuse collection–4212, 4953, 5093, and 334. According to an OSHA spokesman, those industries listed in the directive are considered "high injury rate" industries and are subject to scheduled routine inspection. The directive states specifically that SIC Codes 4953 and 5093–refuse systems and scrap and waste materials, respectively–are included because of their historically high fatality rate. It further states that SIC Code 5093 is included because it is part of the larger 5090–sanitary services–group, which has a "high overall rate of injury." The directive can be found on www.osha.gov by searching "2001 data initiative" or "site-specific targeting 2002." (OSHA's data and directives cover only federal workers and those of private companies.)

Concerted Effort to Improve

Representatives of the private sector of the solid waste industry respond to the BLS statistics by noting improvements over the past five years. David Biderman, general counsel of the Environmental Industry Association (EIA) in Washington, DC, points to a reduction of total lost time due to injury and illness cases from 13.9 per 100 full-time workers in 1994 to 10.5 in 2000–still higher than average but an overall improvement. The number of fatalities also declined from 1995 to 1998, although it moved upward in 1999-2000 near the 1995 level.

As for the reasons for the decline in injuries, illnesses, and deaths, Gary Satterfield, executive vice president of the Waste Equipment Technology Association (WASTEC)–which, similar to NSWMA, is part of EIA–suggests that the decline reflects the industry dealing positively with the problems. "The consolidations of the 1990s may have produced a period when safety training was not as prominent, but that's long gone. These consolidations are largely in place, and there's been an awakening to the need to train for safety."

NSWMA's Miller referred to an April 10, 2002, New York City Lehman Brothers Environmental and Industrial Services Conference, targeted to investors, where commitment to safety was actually a part of the presentations of companies such as WMI, Casella Waste Systems (Rutland, VT), and Waste Connections Inc. (Folsom, CA), to name just a few. "This shows they're claiming that their attention to safety is a reason for people to invest, that there's a need to train for safety in and of itself and because it goes to the bottom line," Miller explains.

WMI's presentation at the conference lists as a goal, "Build efficiency and improve safety in local operating units [through] new route optimization tools to reduce cost/pickup and asset requirements and [through] significantly improving the safety culture." The WMI presentation to investors goes on to list as "2001 Safety Facts":

• OSHA injuries reduced by 10%
• Vehicle incidents reduced by 16%
• Positive trends over the course of the year and heading into 2002
• Accidents and injuries have been categorized by types and causes so that we can better focus on prevention

WMI's Schultz states that the company's goal is to change the paradigm. "We want safety to be part of our DNA. Our goal is zero. We believe it is achievable–some parts of the company are at zero injuries and have been for some time. We've been putting together quite a concerted effort to have good, solid new safety processes. We are fact-based and data-driven. And our CEO [A. Maurice Myers] has made it clear that safety is a centralized focus of our company–first, because it's the right thing to do for our employees and for the public we are serving, and second, because it's just good business. Mr. Myers says, ‘If you can't do something safely, then don't do it until you can.'"

Ralph Ford, risk manager for Waste Industries Inc. in Raleigh, NC, points out, "Most injury problems can eventually be traced back to the method of training and the employees' understanding of what is expected. Ultimately, injuries are due to bad decisions–that is, unsafe behaviors. The solid waste industry is no more dangerous than most industries. It just took us, as an industry, a little longer to bring the issue of safety to the forefront. But it's there." A lot of the dangerous aspects to the industry have been "engineered out," Ford maintains, through the use of automated equipment such as sideloaders and automatic tarpers. "People aren't apt to be climbing as much," he continues. "Also, when we train people properly and reinforce safe behaviors through consistent observation and feedback, managing waste is not as dangerous as it was once perceived to be."

It Really Could Be Your Kid

The BLS statistics indicate that although during the 1992-97 period the public sector employed three-fifths of refuse collectors, it accounted for only one-quarter of all refuse collector fatalities.

The conclusion that the public sector is necessarily safer than the private sector is not universally accepted. Some regional federal and state agencies have issued bulletins and reports at least suggesting the opposite. But overall, Joe Franklin, who worked for Browning-Ferris Industries (BFI) for 10 years before coming to his job heading the solid waste division for the City of Franklin, TN, thinks he knows the reason for the statistics. "Sometimes I think the public-sector worker is held more accountable for the actions of the front-line folk. It depends on the kind of jurisdiction, of course, where it is and the particular situation. But when I was at BFI, I was responsible as a certified safety manager for 450 workers covering 20,000 square miles and had to work to keep my people safe while handling a vast raft of other issues. Here in Franklin, I have 43 workers covering 33 square miles. The pace is a little slower in the local public sector than the private, which, by its nature, puts the emphasis on production. I tell my people that if there's a question about safety for a particular pickup, don't pick it up. And I don't have a sales force calling me up and yelling at me or the director of operations complaining about his bottom line. It's easier for me to say to someone who wants a questionable item or items picked up or wants it done in a situation that's potentially dangerous, ‘No, and by the way, you're in violation of the law.'"

Continuing his comparison between public and private, Williams observes, "I think the public sector–at least on the local level–routes lighter. We don't have to make a profit, just provide service to the taxpayers. I try to set up routes that are six to eight hours a day, which is three hours shorter than I was doing when I was in the private sector. The pay structure reflects this. On the private side, you reward production. On the public side, it's task-based or hourly rate."

But Williams adds that local public-sector operations have their own types of safety concerns. "I worry about ‘monster' vehicles in a small town. These trucks are big! When you're in a big city and telling drivers not to ‘hotdog,' you say, ‘Hey, it could be your kid or my kid that you hit.' In a smaller town, that's more likely to be true."

Train, Train, Train

Waste Industries' Ford acknowledges that safety is a continual process. "Automated equipment can reduce back and other injuries but theoretically can produce other types of ergonomic risks, small and perhaps not as acute but there nonetheless. Even those can be reduced through effective administrative controls."

The City of Franklin's Williams concurs that "the biggest improvement in protecting against injuries is the use of automatic sideloaders for residential collection," citing a reduction in back injuries and accidents from standing in front of the vehicle. But he now finds injuries from a driver pulling the stick all day. "It used to be you couldn't keep 'em in the truck because they had to keep getting off to pick up the containers. Now you've got to get 'em out of the truck. I tell them to periodically get out of the cab, stretch, and walk around."

Williams says automatic vehicle collection has had positive effects not only on reducing injuries but also on increasing worker retention. "You've got three guys on a rearloader who've got to get off and get everything. Two things are eventually going to happen. The worker is either going to make a mistake and get hurt or just get burned out. When I was in the private sector, if you had someone who'd been there a year and a half, he or she was an old-timer. Now, with automation, it cuts the crew size, and a worker doesn't have to lift 120 pounds."

As for fatalities such as Hanly's, NSWMA's Miller points out, "We have no control over what people put in their garbage. It's what's left over from [their] lives." WMI's Schultz adds, "We take as much control as we can with protective equipment for our employees and training in situational awareness. It does require concentration every day."

"You do everything you can," stresses Williams. "You tell 'em they have to keep an eye out, especially in manual collection, and no one is ever going to completely get out of manual collection. So you train, train, train. And the dangers–it doesn't matter if it's public- or private-sector collection, big city or small. When I first got to Franklin, we had a big problem with people throwing away pool chemicals in their trash. And we really had to train both our people and the public to get that in hand."

John Skinner, executive director of the Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA) in Silver Spring, MD, puts it concisely: "Safety is a 24-hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week effort, not just a weekly meeting."

Schultz describes WMI's umbrella training program, called "Mission to Zero," as having several incorporated programs. "First," he states, "we establish consistent, common best practices, which we call our ‘rule book' for training drivers and helpers. An examination is part of the program. You have to be rule-certified to be employed at WMI. Then we have a behavior observation program, a new driver-training program, a "Fleet Pride" program that focuses on understanding our equipment, and a new data system that allows us to track and understand trends and adapt our training to these leading indicators. We establish templates of safety action plans, and every location has one."

Recycling: Dickensian If Done Wrong

On November 21, 2000, OSHA cited Hanna Paper Recycling Inc. of Mansfield, MA, for 19 alleged serious violations following the June 2000 death of an employee who entered a baler to dislodge a jammed cardboard bale and was crushed to death between the bale and gathering ram when the baler was activated. The citations related to the fatality concerned violations of OSHA's hazardous energy control or lockout/tagout standard, which requires that a baler be shut down and its power sources locked out before employees perform maintenance or attempt to remove jammed bales.

Although obviously some of the circumstances are different, Schultz affirms that training to prevent injuries and fatalities has a commonality that cuts across all solid waste operations: "It all comes down to behavior."

Some observers have referred to picking recyclables out of a line as Dickensian, employing minorities, the mentally disadvantaged, and prisoners to pull plastic and cardboard out of garbage. Indeed, The Wall Street Journal in 1994 listed the job as one of the 10 worst in America.

"It's Dickensian if it's done wrong," remarks John L. Legler, former WASTEC executive vice president and now director of trucking security and operations at the American Trucking Associations in Alexandria, VA. "The key is setting the facility up with good conditions. You can do a lot of material handling if people are comfortable. As for the type of people, other industries use the same people. The work's available, it's an economic opportunity. If it's a decent place, it's decent work."

In 1998, the American National Standard Institute in New York City offered safety standards for material recovery facilities (MRFs)–Z245.41. It is part of the Z245 series and addresses everything from MRF design and equipment maintenance to worker safety, including collisions, inadequate personal protection, machine guarding, and hazardous materials. The standards were crafted by a committee of industry professionals who shared their experiences and company policies.

"No Silver Bullet"

There are many good training programs available, and they are helpful. On April 17, 2002, DriveOne, a driver training program specifically targeted to reduce waste vehicle crashes and injuries, released "Coaching the Refuse Truck Driver II" in collaboration with NSWMA.

Says Skinner, "SWANA teaches safety training in every one of its programs–the landfill course, recycling, construction and demolition: each one has a safety element to it."

"There's no ‘silver bullet,'" Schultz cautions. "But I've been working in health and safety for 29 _ years–with the military, the railroads, Procter & Gamble–and what we're doing is bringing together world-class elements to produce a world-class matrix. What you need to focus on is creating a culture that focuses on the risks at hand so that your employees can make the right decision."

"You have to keep training. That's what you do," agrees Williams, "I tell my people, ‘Whether I'm working for a public-sector or private-sector entity, I have a responsibility as an employer to send you home today in the same condition you were in when you came in.'"

John T. Aquino, former editor-in-chief/publishing director of Waste Age Publications, is a Washington, DC—based writer and attorney.

MSW - July/August 2002