Dive Brief:

• Los Angeles will pay $5 million to the husband and daughter of Flora Kohanbashiri, 60, who was fatally hit by a garbage truck in December 2014. The family members sued the city following the accident. 
• The lawsuit alleged that the truck — which was attempting to turn right onto Almont Drive from West 3rd St. — backed up and struck Kohanbashiri. Severe injuries resulted in her death. 
• The Bureau of Sanitation did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Los Angeles Times. 

Dive Insight:

"This is one of the most dangerous industries in the United States," SWANA CEO David Biderman recently said at WASTECON. According to the most recent Bureau of Labor Statistics report, refuse and recyclable materials collector is listed as the sixth most dangerous job in the country, with transportation incidents accounting for 69% of fatalities. However, the job is not only dangerous for the truck driver. Employees operating the vehicles must be aware of pedestrians and other drivers on the road, who are at great risk of injury or death if they collide with a garbage truck.

Recently, National Waste & Recycling Association Safety Director John Haudenshield sat down with Waste Dive to discuss safety in the industry. He explained that, no matter who is at fault for an accident on the road, the enormous size of a garbage truck will most likely be the factor that hurts or kills a pedestrian or fellow driver on the road. It is up to both the employees in the waste industry and the general public to be cautious and aware of what is happening around them while traveling on public streets and highways.