SWANA Comments on US Injury and Illness Data

November 12, 2024 – Silver Spring, MD 

According to annual data  released by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) on November 8, there were 2.6 million nonfatal workplace injuries and illnesses reported by private industry employers in 2023, a decrease of 8.4 percent from 2022. The injury rate for solid waste collection workers was 4.3 total cases per 100 full-time equivalent (FTE) workers and the rate for landfill workers was 3.1 cases per 100 FTE. These were slight decreases from the 2022 injury rates, but higher than 2021.  

The news arrived the same day that the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced a decrease in fatalities the agency was mandated to investigate in fiscal year 2024, an 11 percent decrease from the previous year. There was a significant decrease in fatalities related to falls and trench collapses.  

“This is positive news for the waste and resource management industry, and we recognize that more can be done to improve workplace safety,” said Amy Lestition Burke, Executive Director & CEO of the Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA). “We encourage everyone in the industry to take safety seriously. SWANA’s safety programs highlight the subject matter expertise of our members to provide best practices in workplace culture, training, and the use of equipment and technology to promote workplace safety.” 

WASTECON®, held in October in Grapevine, Texas, featured several safety sessions on increasingly urgent issues such as heat safety, disaster debris safety, and the prevention of and response to fires caused by lithium-ion batteries. Keynote speaker K. Scott Griffith, former chief safety officer for American Airlines, shared insights on how he led exponential change related to safety and risk for the airline industry and how those lessons can be applied to the waste industry.  

“As we plan for SWANA’s new annual event, RCon™, we will continue to provide safety resources and thought leadership. It’s important to provide holistic approaches to employee wellbeing for mental and physical health and safety,” Lestition Burke added. 

For more information about SWANA’s safety initiatives and getting involved, please  contact us or visit  https://swana.org/initiatives/safety.