|
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Commission
Candidate Willie Logan Calls For Study to Determine Whether
Miami-Dade Sanitation Workers Should Receive Hazardous Duty
Benefits
Miami
, Fl---
May 18,
2004
---According
to U.S. Department of Labor statistics and a
Florida
study,
garbage collectors are 10 times more likely to be killed on
the job and 7 times more likely to suffer work injuries than
the general workforce. In
Miami-Dade
County
,
solid waste workers report
2 to 3 times as many injuries as workers in other
Florida
metropolitan
counties.
That’s
why Miami-Dade County Commission candidate Willie Logan is
calling for an outside study to look into whether sanitation
workers in Miami-Dade are at such a high risk for injury or
death they deserve compensation similar to that awarded
police officers, firefighters and paramedics.
“I started looking at the issue after County sanitation
workers told me they routinely face hazards on the job
severe enough to warrant hazard pay and early retirement,”
says
Logan
.
“When I saw data indicating garbage
collectors are about three times more likely to die on the
job than police officers or firefighters, I felt an
obligation to find out why solid waste workers don’t also
receive hazardous duty benefits.”
Due to the high fatality rate of sanitation workers, the U.S.
Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics has
identified the occupation as “high-hazard,” along with
logging workers, miners and fishers.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has
issued an alert, warning sanitation workers they risk injury
and death when riding on or working in the “hazardous
area” near refuse collection vehicles.
In a study
for the Florida Center
for Solid and Hazardous Waste Management at the University
of Florida, Environmental Engineering Professor Dr.
James Englehardt found 80 out of every 100 workers may be
injured per year in Florida, with municipal solid waste
workers at risk for contact with or inhalation of infectious
and hazardous gases and liquids, muscle disorders from heavy
lifting, and truck accidents that oftentimes result in
injury or death. The
study suggests garbage collection is one of the most
dangerous professions in the
United
States
.
“I’m told common injuries for these workers
include punctures, bone fractures and trauma from jumping on and off trucks day-after-day,” says
Logan
.
“Given how brutal this job is on the body, these
men and women seem like perfect candidates for early,
special risk retirement.
We can’t expect them to work like this for
30 years."
Marie Johnson-Mobley, Miami Dade
County Solid Waste Radio Operator and AFSCME Union Local
3292 President says “a sanitation workers’ life span
usually doesn’t exceed five to ten years outside of their
service. They
are usually diagnosed with all types of cancer; usually
prostate, throat or stomach.
That’s because we deal with waste, the stuff no one
wants.” She
says “hazardous duty benefits for sanitation workers is
much needed and is a positive and powerful move in the right
direction.”
Dr. Englehardt supports Mr. Logan’s effort to study the
issue further and says “It’s a good idea Mr. Logan is
looking into this issue and dialogue with the county is a
good way to begin addressing the problem.”
###
Contact:
Nikisha L. Williams, Media Coordinator
Willie Logan Campaign for
Miami-Dade
County
Commissioner,
Dist. 1
111 NW 183rd
Street, Suite 108
Miami
,
FL
33169
Phone:
(305)
651-7430
Fax:
(305)
770-2215
E-mail: nwilliams@wlogan.org
|
