‘Don’t be a prick’: Online campaign underscores dangers of medical waste in N.S. trash

“Don’t Be A Prick.”

That’s the message of a new campaign by the Waste Resource Association of Nova Scotia (WRANS), complete with a series of videos designed to educate and stick in the minds of Nova Scotians.

The videos show front line workers picking up curbside trash and underscore the dangers that can come with the job if residents don’t dispose medical waste, such as needles, properly.

“We wanted to show Nova Scotians the real faces of the workers who deal with this,” said Kirk Symonds, of WRANS, in a release.

“Their safety is in your hands,” reads the release.

In one of the campaign’s videos, one worker is heard saying, “Don’t be the prick that costs me my health, my safety and my livelihood.”

The provocative messaging’s goal is to ensure the public knows what risks there are to improper needle disposal.

“Waste workers work incredibly hard in a fast-paced environment,” said Symonds. “They only have a split second to spot a risk.”

WRANS indicated that 600 Nova Scotians are currently working in the waste resource industry and that while no statistics are available for these types of incidents in the province, it’s said to cause 1,481 injuries in the United States each year.

In those incidents, workers could be infected with diseases such as HIV, hepatitis B and C, or more.

You can view the campaign’s videos here.

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