Employees in the waste collection industry have been complaining over the lack of protective gear provided to them. Now, some companies have begun to adhere to the Kigali City guidelines to provide protective clothing to their employees, only to find they are not being used.

Kigali City distributes safety guidelines to all licensed waste collection businesses. The guidelines include the provision of full protective gear - boots, gloves, and facemasks - for workers handling trash. Although most waste collection companies adhere to these guidelines, companies complain that employees have been slow to utilize them, despite that they are provided free of charge.

The city of Kigali works with at least 23 waste collection companies which are paid by households on a monthly basis, with payments ranging from Frw 3,000 to 10,000 a month. Garbage is collected on a weekly basis for most companies.

COPED, one of the companies, has improved its operations in numerous ways, including the introduction of color coded bags for household waste sorting and specialized trash collection trucks, as well as protective gear for garbage collectors. "We try our best to make sure our employees work in good conditions by offering protective gear, and by replacing this safety equipment when it gets old," explained Aimable Rwanzunga, the commercial director of COPED.

"Sometimes, the gloves are hard to wear to wear because they are very hot, but this nuisance does not compare to the consequences that you may face if you do not put them on."

Still, in most cases, waste collectors do not wear safety equipment, a challenge that, according to Rwanzunga, preoccupies the company.

He explained that his workers claim that gloves harm their arms, which he stressed is a misconception. He reiterated that the company is rolling out a sensitization program, showing how important this equipment is to one's hygiene, especially in the protection against infection and other hazards in the trash.

Health specialists agree that trash collectors without proper protective gear are at risk for infection and disease from handling trash. Some fumes can even lead to respiratory ailments like tuberculosis.

Immunization:

Despite the remaining challenges, it is clear that waste collection business industry is working to improve working conditions for its employees. Along with providing safety gear, Isuku Kinyinya, a waste collection cooperative operating in Kinyinya sector in Gasabo, immunizes all its employees from tetanus, which is often contracted in the handling of unclean or rusty metals, and is a big threat to for example construction workers.

However, the cooperative's president, Libérata Mukeshimana, also raises the challenge of convincing employees to utilize protective gear. The cooperative goes to great lengths to explain the importance of safety and hygiene to its employees, some of whom however claim that the equipment is uncomfortable.

"Sometimes, the gloves are hard to wear to wear because they are very hot, but this nuisance does not compare to the consequences that you may face if you do not put them on," emphasized Théophile Muhinga, a waste collector from the cooperative, referring to the complaints of his fellow trash collectors.

The battle against bad hygiene rages on.