Waste collector

Waste collection vehicle operating in the streets of Prague

A waste collector is a person employed by a public or private enterprise to collect and remove refuse and recyclables from residential, commercial, industrial or other collection site for further processing and disposal. Specialised waste collection vehicles featuring an array of automated functions are often deployed to assist waste collectors in reducing collection and transport time and for protection from exposure.

Hazards

Waste collectors are exposed to many on-the-job hazards, such as chemical burns, disposable needles, broken glass, falling objects from overloaded containers, diseases that may accompany solid waste, asbestos, dog-attacks, pests (ants, flies, cockroaches, rodents), dust, inclement weather, traffic and foul odours.

Regional colloquialisms

Notable waste collectors

Former waste collectors

• Andy Abraham - X-Factor contestant
• Michael Carroll - UK National Lottery winner
• Richard Leiterman - Cinematographer
• Steve Hutchins - Politician
• Nathan Rees - Politician, Premier of New South Wales
• Neville Southall - International footballer
• Georges St-Pierre - Mixed martial artist and UFC Welterweight Champion, (worked as a garbage man for 6 months)^[1]

Fictional waste collectors

• Alfred P. Doolittle (Stanley Holloway), a common dustman, My Fair Lady from the stage play, Broadway, 1956; London, 1958; Warner Bros. motion picture, 1964.
• Carl (Charlie Sheen) and James (Emilio Estevez) from the 1990 film Men at Work
• Howard Moon of The Mighty Boosh has worked twice as a Bin man,once prior to the show and lastly in The Strange Tale of the Crack Fox.
• Louie Wilson (Scatman Crothers) of Chico and the Man
• Mike Droese - Professional wrestler
• Garbageman - From Dilbert
• Garbageman - From Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
• Nicodemus (Noddy) Boffin, aka the Golden Dustman, in Charles Dickens' Our Mutual Friend, probably based on Henry Dodd, a ploughboy who made his fortune removing London's rubbish.
• The 1960s popular song "My Old Man's a Dustman" by Lonnie Donegan
• Bob & Doug Mckenzie, on their 2009 animated series
• The films Blood Feast, Scanners III: The Takeover and Child's Play 3 all feature minor characters being murdered with refuse trucks.^[2]

See also

• Beach cleaner
• Litter
• Waste
• Waste management
• Memphis Sanitation Strike
• 2009 Leeds refuse workers strike

References

• Labor Market Information Division (2002). "California Occupational Guide Number 460: Mechanical - Skilled Occupations: Refuse Collectors". State of California, Employment Development Department. http://www.calmis.cahwnet.gov/file/occguide/GARBAGE.htm. Retrieved 2008-05-28.