Safe Waste Collection

WorkSafeNB – Safe Waste Collection

WorkSafeNB focuses on high-risk industries to reduce injuries and promote a safety culture in New Brunswick workplaces. In 2013, WorkSafeNB identified waste collection as a high-risk industry. Waste collection workers in New Brunswick are three times more likely to be hurt on the job as the average New Brunswick worker. Since 2003, four waste collection workers have died from workplace injuries.

To help, WorkSafeNB has launched the Safe Waste Collection initiative. The strategy has several components: increased education; focused compliance activities; recommendations to require safety policies and procedures in the tendering process; and, public awareness and engagement.

In fall 2015, WorkSafeNB consultants started meeting with waste collection employers one-on-one throughout the province to help them improve their health and safety practices.

Following this, health and safety officers focused their efforts on new employee orientation and training as well as inspections of mobile equipment and facilities of employers in the industry. These efforts will continue until mid-2017.

Listen to our staff talk about safe waste collection (YouTube)