SEATTLE (Recycling Monster): The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released its yearly data on Friday, which shows that the garbage and recycling sector experienced a slight decrease in work-related injury events over the course of 2023 compared to the previous year. However, there was a notable increase in the number of diseases reported by solid waste collection workers.

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The 2023 solid trash collection worker injury rate was 4.3 total cases per 100 full-time equivalent (FTE) workers, which was somewhat lower than the 2022 rate of 4.7. According to the BLS study, the number of documented injuries among landfill workers decreased marginally from 3.6 instances per 100 FTE in 2022 to 3.1 cases.

In 2023, the illness rate for solid waste collection workers was 13.8 per 100 FTE, which was much higher than the 5.8 rate the year before. Skin-related diseases and disorders and respiratory ailments were found to have high incidence rates of 2.0 and 1.3, respectively. In the meantime, the rate of illness among landfill employees decreased from 8.6 per 100 FTE in 2022 to 4.9 in 2023.

According to BLS data, the cumulative incidence rate of nonfatal occupational illnesses and injuries for solid waste collection workers was 4.4 over the previous year, while it was 3.1 for landfill workers.

BLS will issue the 2023 worker fatality figures on December 19, 2024.