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There have been reports of frequent accidents involving sanitation workers falling from their work vehicles.

We will tell you how the work is done, how many safety devices are in place, and what we covered on site.



This is Reporter Kim Hyung-rae.



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Mr. A, a cleaning worker for a subcontractor, collects recycled waste in Gangnam-gu, Seoul.



I had a serious accident while working in June of last year.



While working on securing Styrofoam boxes stacked up to the top of the vehicle with rubber bands, he fell 3m down when an old rope broke.



Both of his wrists were broken and he remained disabled after 6 weeks of treatment.



Mr. A claims that the company operated a vehicle modified for collecting food waste, rather than a dedicated vehicle that had a cover and did not need to secure waste.



[Mr. A: Even if an accident doesn't happen right now, you don't know what will happen.

In fact, people really have to fall and die to know, I think.]



I followed the work line of this vehicle on a weekday night.



He could be seen putting down the trash with his foot resting on a single thin iron bar without any safety device.



Uncertainty in the field is still there.



[Mihwawon: I put this on top, I just work on it, and then I put it like this.

(Looks dangerous?) Dangerous.]



The company explained that only the collection device was removed from the food waste collection vehicle, and that there was no illegal modification at all.



[Cleaning agency official: Even if this is made of rubber, people who are going to get hurt will get hurt.

It's officially and legally a specially equipped car.

I can't do (illegally renovate) while working as a cleaning agency for the ward office.]



Gangnam-gu Office, the original contractor, also explained that it is not subject to crackdowns because there are no regulations regarding the detailed form of cleaning vehicles.



(Video editing: Yoon Tae-ho, VJ: Kim Jong-gap · Noh Jae-min)



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Reporter Kim Hyung-rae, who covered this story, is with me.



Q. Sanitation worker falls, how frequent are they?



[Reporter Kim Hyung-rae: With this report, I checked the status of the sanitation workers' crashes, and it was much more serious than I thought.

According to the statistics of the Ministry of Environment, from 2017 to September of this year, 507 sanitation workers applied for industrial accidents due to falls, an average of 84.5 per year.

So, one by one every 4 to 5 days, sanitation workers fall from vehicles and are injured.]



Q. What is the cause of repeated falling accidents?



[Reporter Kim Hyung-rae: In short, it can be said to be another case of 'outsourcing of risk' in our society.

According to the story of Mr. A, who reported to us, it is said that only 3 people go 100 km in 8 hours to remove more than 3 tons of recycling waste.

With such a tight schedule, there is always a risk of an accident.

However, if you look at the regulations of the local government in charge, even if a human accident occurs, the first punishment is a warning and the second is only a 1 million won penalty



. , Why didn't ○○ company do it?

[Reporter Kim Hyung- rae



: The Ministry of Environment also made a guideline to introduce a vehicle exclusively for recycling in the long term, not to open the cover because falls accidents keep repeating. It's literally a guideline, so it's not compulsory.

In the end, the safety of sanitation workers is neglected in a blind spot in the name of cost reduction through subcontractors.]



(Video coverage: Kim Se-kyung, Video editing: Yoon Tae-ho)