The National Commission of Inquiry into the Worker Health and Safety Crisis in the Solid Waste Industry and the Teamsters Union have released a joint report entitled “In Harm’s Way,” that claims sanitation workers have 10 times the risk of workplace fatalities and face health and safety risks every day. Some of the dangers are immediate and catastrophic risks, like losing a limb in garbage truck machinery. But they also face exposure to everything from feces and rotting meat, medical waste and used hypodermic needles, and asbestos. Some of these toxic exposures pose an immediate risk of disease, and some of the toxins, like asbestos, will remain in the body for decades and much later may develop into devastating diseases like mesothelioma. The report also found that sanitation workers often did not have necessary safety equipment for dealing with hazardous substances.
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