Waste collector

A smiling city worker prepares to unload new trash containers from a truck and distribute them to citizens of Basra, Iraq, July 1, 2009
Waste collection vehicle operating in the streets of Prague

A waste collector is a person employed by a public or private enterprise to collect and remove refuse (waste) and recyclables from residential, commercial, industrial or other collection site for further processing and disposal. Specialised waste collection vehicles featuring an array of automated functions are often deployed to assist waste collectors in reducing collection and transport time and for protection from exposure. Waste and recycling pickup work is physically demanding and it exposes workers to a number of occupational hazards.

Hazards

Statistics show waste collection to be one of the most dangerous jobs, at times even more dangerous than police work, but consistently less dangerous than commercial fishing and ranch and farm work. On-the-job hazards include broken glass; medical waste such as syringes; caustic chemicals; falling objects from overloaded containers; diseases that may accompany solid waste; asbestos; dog attacks and pests; inhaling dust, smoke, and fumes; inclement weather, traffic accidents, and odors so foul that they can make one physically sick.

[1][2]

Scavengers and recyclers

In many developing countries, the first people to tackle the waste collection are pickers working in the informal economy, i.e. they may be self-financing through recycling, repairing, and reselling. Examples include the bottley-wallah, recycler of many sorts of materials in India, castes such as the Zabbaleen in Egypt, or tip scavenger groups in Brazil such as documented in the film Hauling.

Regional names

Many varieties of English have a range of names for waste collectors, from formal job titles for municipal employees, to colloquial and regional terms.

Notable individuals

Former waste collectors

Fictional waste collectors

See also

References

  1. ↑ "The 15 Most Dangerous Jobs In America".
  2. ↑ "The 10 Most Dangerous Jobs in America - Risk Management Monitor".
  3. ↑ Note that the Australian term "garbo" stems from a now-disused street cry used by garbagemen during the early 20th century. "The silence of the bottle-oh". The Sydney Morning Herald. Sydney, NSW. 15 December 1951. p. 2.
  4. ↑ Note that the British term "dustman" stems from the Victorian era, when men would collect the dust - ashes and cinders - created by the many tons of fossil fuels burned in cooking ranges at the time. Victorian London
  5. ↑ "I found great synonyms for "sanitation engineer" on the new Thesaurus.com!".
  6. ↑ Sun, Baltimore. "Welcome to the MMA Insider blog on baltimoresun.com".
  7. ↑ "Refuse trucks on film". April 2010. Retrieved 13 September 2010.
  8. ↑ "My Dad, the Garbage Man/Poor Muffy".

Further reading

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