Waste and recycling collection workers in the public sector average about four times the number in the private sector of days off from work related to injuries, according to a speaker at Wastecon from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).

Workers in the public sector took a total of 4,017 days away from work from injury or illness in 2009, according to estimates by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. That compares with 1,070 for the private sector that year, according to David Utterback, services secto...