SWANA Adds New Safety Stickers to Protect Workers

The Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA) is collaborating with BrandArmor to provide an important new safety decal for the back of waste and recycling collection trucks. BrandArmor has created large, SafetyFirst Prismatic Reflective caution decals, which include the familiar warning to Slow Down to Get Around. The reflective decals will be visible up to a distance of 1,800 feet at night.

“I am very excited about these new stickers, which are much larger and more visible than most of the ones currently in use,” said David Biderman, SWANA’s executive director and CEO, in a statement. “Motorists continue to drive into the back of industry trucks or strike collection workers with disturbing frequency. These stickers can be placed on a wide variety of front-end loaders and automated side loaders and can also be customized for rear-end loaders. The added visibility will make it virtually impossible for a motorist to legitimately claim he or she did not see the truck in the event of a collision. I urge fleet operators to purchase these new safety stickers.”

Slow Down to Get Around (SDTGA) is a national safety campaign that reminds motorists to drive more carefully when near waste and recycling collection vehicles. Being struck by a motorist is a leading cause of death for waste and recycling collection employees, and with proper awareness, is completely preventable. SDTGA was created by Rumpke more than a decade ago following two incidents resulting in the death of one employee and serious injuries to another worker.

Related:SWANA Calls for Renewed Focus on Safety

SDTGA is also the name commonly applied to legislation that requires motorists to slow down or move over when passing waste and recycling vehicles that are in the process of collection. Twenty-two states have enacted some type of SDTGA law to help protect solid waste workers out on route and several others are considering similar bills.

With all the fatalities that have occurred in the past few years, SWANA has been emphasizing industry safety at the chapter and national levels in both the United States and Canada. SWANA hopes these decals will help reduce the number of incidents in which motorists collide with industry vehicles or employees.

“BrandArmor is so proud be teaming up with SWANA to expand the SDTGA safety program from education to real-world implementation to save lives,” said Jonathan Baltic, senior vice president of BrandArmor, in a statement.

The stickers, which all carry a five-year, 100 percent replacement warranty, are tied to the VIN number of the truck. The warranty will make it possible to track vehicles that get the decals and compare accident rates with vehicles that do not have the decals. SWANA members will be able to purchase the decals at a deeply discounted price, according to the association.