July 28, 1999 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Hazards of refuse collection

Refuse collection is one of the most hazardous jobs in the country. From 1992 to 1997, the fatality rate for refuse collectors was 10 times the overall on-the-job fatality rate.

Annual number of refuse collector fatalities, 1992-97
[Chart data—TXT]

The fatality rate for refuse collectors averaged 46 deaths per 100,000 workers per year. The fatality rate for all occupations was 4.7 deaths per 100,000 workers.

There were 132 fatally injured refuse collectors in the 1992-97 period. The annual number of fatalities ranged from 18 in 1993 to 29 in 1995. Vehicles inflicted most deaths involving refuse collectors.

These data are a product of the BLS Safety and Health Statistics Program. Additional information is available from "Job Hazards in the Waste Industry" (PDF 38K), Compensation and Working Conditions, Summer 1999.

Happy 10th Birthday, TED!

The very first issue of The Editor's Desk (TED) was posted on September 28, 1998. TED was the first online-only publication of the Bureau of Labor Statistics. For 10 years, BLS has been committed to posting a new TED article each business day, for a total of over 2,400 articles so far.

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