I’m not pushing an agenda or taking sides. The numbers and similarities simply caught my eye and I thought that I would share. So, what’s the point of all of this? I really don’t know. The fact remains that the numbers show trash collection to be more dangerous than firefighting in the U.S.
However, most in the fire service, and public, would still consider our profession to be more hazardous. They are “in the hot zone” everyday, where many firefighters hardly see fire on a weekly or monthly basis. In addition, most areas still allow trash collectors to ride the tailboard. They work around compactors, grinders, shredders, and all sorts of other nasty, destructive equipment. They spend nearly their entire shift in traffic. Refuse collection is not the safest occupation by any account. This means that there was a 0.018% fatality rate for the waste collection industry, and a 0.008% fatality rate for the fire service, on average. The NFPA listed 1,103,300 firefighters in the nation for the same year. In 2010, the NIOSH listed 478,000 waste collection employees nationwide. These numbers are still not in proper context, so let’s dissect them a bit further. So, trash collectors experience almost the same number of on-duty deaths per year on average. Just over 10 more LODD’s than trash collectors for the same time period.
Taking the average number of NFPA recorded on-duty LODD’s from 2003-2009 gives us a useful result of 97. This number is meaningful, but not accurately comparative. Subtracting those incidents leaves us with 72 LODD’s, which was the number reported by the NFPA. This number includes 15 post-duty deaths (which must be removed as those deaths are not counted in the solid waste report). The fire service typically states an average of 100 LODD’s per year, which isn’t far off in itself, but the past three years have seen a decrease in those numbers. This report was intriguing as it stated that, on average from 2003-2009, there were 85 on-duty traumatic fatalities per year in the solid waste collection industry. NIOSH investigates on-duty fatalities in almost every industry, just as they do for the fire service. It discussed a 2010 NIOSH study on Solid Waste Collection workers, mainly the occurrence of fatal traumatic injuries in the industry. I was recently reminded of this quote as I read an article in a magazine published for government workers. Simple enough, so how else can the garbageman be related to the fireman? Take a breath, make a plan, and execute it. Burning property is simply part of this job. We shouldn’t be surprised, screaming the size-up and jumping around in the front yard, when we roll up and visually confirm the reported fire. They usually mention something about it in the dispatch. In the same respect, firemen should expect fire. The garbageman isn’t reduced to a hyper-ventilating, giddy, screaming maniac at the sight of trash because that’s his job, that’s what he trains for, that’s what he expects when he mounts his rig in the morning.
If you aren’t familiar with the late Andy Fredericks, click the link above for a brief bio. It is spoken in many a firehouse, usually by an elder fireman to one with less experience, even if the speaker doesn’t know where the quote originated. The above quote by Andy Fredericks is one which permeates the fire service from coast to coast. Likewise, you should be expecting fire on every run.” – Lt. “The garbage man doesn’t get excited when he turns the corner and sees trash, because he’s expecting it.