Refuse and Recycling Collectors

Refuse collectors face a fatality rate of roughly 35 per 100,000 workers — most deaths are caused by being struck by passing vehicles while working on busy roads or being caught in compactor mechanisms. Collectors also face crush injuries, lacerations from unsorted sharp waste, chemical burns from hazardous household materials, and musculoskeletal damage from decades of manual lifting. The U.K., U.S., and Germany have documented this as a chronically underappreciated danger.