Our Opinion: Be mindful of the trash you toss out

Friday, October 18, 2019

For most people, when it comes to tossing out your trash, it’s out of sight, out of mind. But, for employees -- like the City of Linton Sanitation Department -- how you dispose of your trash is a big deal.

Earlier this week, Operations Manager Brent Murray went before the Linton City Council to express concern after a trash truck employee was stuck by a needle through a trash bag. Because the trash bag didn’t actually belong to the homeowner, the city’s workman’s compensation will be doling out thousands of dollars for preventative medication, and that employee will spend the next year and a half being treated to ensure there was nothing on the needle that could cause an issue for the employee.

After mentioning the concern at the meeting, Murray provided more insight about how residents can help make the job of the sanitation department easier and safer.

“You can’t foresee getting struck by a car, but this is an issue we can see and act on now,” Murray said in a later interview.

Murray said, in his opinion, the trash truck employees have the toughest city job. They hang off the back of the truck, grab unknown items from the yards of people they don’t know and sometimes have to lift in excess of 100 pounds, all the while working nearly 365 days a year.

Before explaining some ways residents can help, Murray stressed the goal isn’t chastise anyone. Instead, he wants to educate the community about topics they deal with daily that consumers may not even consider.

First of all, the issue of the needle is fresh in everyone’s mind. Murray said individuals who use needles for their medicine should place their used needles in a plastic container -- like a milk jug or detergent container -- before disposing of them to ensure they do not penetrate the bags, which can in turn go through the gloves of the employee picking up their bags. With that in mind, Murray said the same goes for broken glass. He asked that residents take special care in disposing of broken glass. In the past, he has had employees cut by glass that has sliced through a trash bag.

One of the interesting points our staff hadn’t considered that is included in the ordinance, is closing the lid to your trash can. Seems silly and menial, but in reality, it saves the trash truck employees time and effort when grabbing your can. Excess water in the can adds pounds to the plastic container. Plus, in the winter, Murray said frozen water sitting in the bottom of the can deteriorates the plastic and can cause it to break down quicker -- especially with cheaper made cans.

Sometimes water can get into the bags as well. When the employees toss the bag in the truck to be bailed, those bags full of water can burst -- splashing all over the employee. But, Murray noted, this is mainly an issue with the rookies. The more seasoned employees have figured out where to stand during this process to avoid being hit by the trash.

In addition, if there is frozen water in the can, it will make the trash stuck and they have to be rougher with the plastic trash cans. Something as simple as putting the lid on the can will save everyone time and frustration.

Murray said the city’s garbage ordinance states all trash must be in bags, but now the goal is to get all residents to ensure those secure bags are in a plastic container -- preferably one of the more durable cans purchased through the city that are designed to hook up directly to the city’s trash trucks. Of course, it saves time, but it also ensures employees aren’t being injured due to heavy lifting.

“If all of these things are in the tipper cans, then we don’t have to worry about touching those contaminants either,” Murray said.

He also wanted to remind residents that the city trash pickup is for household trash only. The recycling center allows for disposal of other types of items like cardboard or construction materials that fall outside of those parameters.

Murray noted the garbage ordinance also reminds residents to have their trash out by 5 a.m. on their designated trash day because some days their schedule has to be switched around a little.

“Sometimes we have a truck break down and we have to run our routes a little different. People will call and say, well you always pick up our trash at 9 a.m. In a perfect world we could do that, but it doesn’t work all the time,” Murray explained.

The City of Linton’s sanitation department, along with all other rural and local departments, work in all elements, whether it’s 100 degrees or 10 below zero. Let’s help make their job easier and safer by taking these tips into consideration.

We need these people to pick up our trash, and it would be great to provide them a safe environment to do so. We all want to be safe at work.

Murray said he is working with Utilities Superintendent Brent Slover and Mayor John Wilkes to put together a plan to get the durable trash cans in the hands of Linton residents.

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  • In the 32 years I have lived in the same location in Linton, I have had extremely good service from our sanitation people — with never a complaint.. I make an effort to have everything neatly bagged and in the container purchased from the City. Only a slight amount of consideration on our part makes the process better for all..

    -- Posted by swa on Sat, Oct 19, 2019, at 6:24 PM
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