Keeping our collection workers safe

Our collection crews are on the streets five days a week in all weather, collecting around 8,000 garbage and organics carts daily across the municipality.

In addition to the strenuous physical nature of the job, workers must also contend with the risks posed by distracted and impatient drivers who often encroach on the crew’s working area around the truck and make unsafe maneuvers to pass the vehicle, putting workers and others at risk.

Motorists can help protect our staff and other road users by doing the following:

• Slow down when approaching a garbage truck and be prepared to stop and wait
• Watch for collectors working around the vehicle and crossing the road
• Do not enter the “work zone,” the area at the rear and side of the truck where crews are loading garbage and organics carts
• Only pass a waste collection truck where it is safe to do so and be extra cautious, making sure there is no oncoming traffic, workers, pedestrians or cyclists in your path
• Don’t pass on solid double-yellow lines

Get tips on how to safely set out your carts to keep workers safe