NYC Sanitation Worker 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: What does the term 'put-out rate' refer to in NYC sanitation operations?
- The speed at which a truck empties at the transfer station
- The percentage of residents on a route who set out garbage for collection (Correct answer)
- The rate at which a worker loads refuse onto the truck
- The frequency of missed pickups per month
Correct answer: The percentage of residents on a route who set out garbage for collection
Put-out rate measures the proportion of stops on a route where residents actually set out refuse for collection.
Question 2: Which body part is most commonly injured among sanitation workers during collection operations?
- Head and neck
- Lower back (Correct answer)
- Hands and fingers
- Knees and ankles
Correct answer: Lower back
Lower back injuries are the most prevalent injury for sanitation workers due to repetitive heavy lifting and awkward body positions.
Question 3: Under DSNY regulations, what is the maximum weight a single refuse bag presented for collection should ideally not exceed?
- 30 pounds
- 40 pounds
- 50 pounds (Correct answer)
- 60 pounds
Correct answer: 50 pounds
DSNY guidelines recommend that individual refuse bags not exceed 50 pounds to protect workers from injury during collection.
Question 4: A sanitation worker discovers a syringe in a bag of garbage while collecting. What is the safest procedure?
- Pick it up with bare hands and place it in the truck
- Use puncture-resistant gloves and a grabber tool, then report it (Correct answer)
- Leave it on the street and complete the route
- Crush it underfoot before loading
Correct answer: Use puncture-resistant gloves and a grabber tool, then report it
Sharps must be handled with puncture-resistant protection and appropriate tools; workers should also report the incident per DSNY protocol.
Question 5: What type of vehicle is used by NYC DSNY specifically for collecting recyclable paper and cardboard?
- Rear-loader compactor
- Dual-bin collection truck (Correct answer)
- Front-loader compactor
- Roll-on/roll-off container truck
Correct answer: Dual-bin collection truck
DSNY uses dual-bin trucks to collect paper and cardboard separately from metal/glass/plastic recyclables in a single pass.
Question 6: When approaching a parked car blocking access to refuse bags on a collection route, what should a sanitation worker do?
- Push the car to access the bags
- Skip the location and continue the route, documenting the missed stop (Correct answer)
- Wait indefinitely for the car to move
- Collect the bags from the middle of the street
Correct answer: Skip the location and continue the route, documenting the missed stop
Blocked stops should be documented as missed pickups and reported; workers must not create unsafe conditions to access refuse.
Question 7: NYC Local Law 199 requires organics collection for large residential buildings. How many units must a building have to qualify?
- 4 or more units
- 10 or more units (Correct answer)
- 100 or more units
- 300 or more units
Correct answer: 10 or more units
Under NYC's organics collection mandate, buildings with 10 or more residential units must participate in the curbside organics program.
NYC Sanitation Worker 3
What does the term 'put-out rate' refer to in NYC sanitation operations?