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PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by David Biderman, President of Biderman Consulting, on Commercial Waste Zone Safety
2:41:47
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169 sec
David Biderman, President of Biderman Consulting, provided an update on safety aspects of the Commercial Waste Zone (CWZ) program. He highlighted his involvement in the CWZ Safety Task Force, safety training for awardees and BIC licensees, and strategic guidance for waste management businesses.
- Biderman reported progress in the CWZ Safety Task Force, including regular meetings and collaboration between DSNY, BIC, DOT, and industry representatives.
- He noted improvements in worker safety, with no private sector licensee worker fatalities in recent years, attributing this to increased focus on safety by most companies.
- Biderman raised concerns about e-bikes as a significant safety threat to waste collection workers, calling for increased enforcement of traffic laws for e-bike riders.
David Biderman
2:41:47
Hello.
2:41:47
I hope you can hear me.
2:41:48
My name is David Biederman.
2:41:50
I'm the president of Biederman Consulting, a solid waste consulting firm, and I'm here to testify to provide a brief update to the committee primarily about the safety related aspects of commercial waste zone.
2:42:04
I currently serve three functions relating to CWZ.
2:42:07
First, I'm the sole industry representative on DSNY CWZ's safety task force.
2:42:13
Second, I provide safety training to numerous awardees and BIC licensees.
2:42:18
Third, I provide some strategic guidance to some of the licensees as they try to navigate the opaque solid waste landscape that's imposed by CWZ and help them evaluate the future of their family businesses.
2:42:30
I'm pleased to report the CWZ Safety Task Force has started to meet regularly again.
2:42:34
Several subcommittees have been formed to explore specific topics.
2:42:37
There's strong collaboration between DSNY, the BIC, DOT, and myself on the task force and in these subcommittees.
2:42:45
And I look forward to continuing to help make solid waste collection safer both from the workers' perspective and for road users such as pedestrians, bicyclists, drivers, and others.
2:42:55
Now CWZ requires all awardees to provide a certain amount of classroom training to frontline workers such as drivers and helpers, and I've been providing that training since early last year.
2:43:05
These efforts are already making a difference.
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In the late twenty tens, not that long ago, there were up to three worker fatalities each year in New York City in our industry.
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In contrast, there has not been a single private sector licensee worker fatality for the past several years.
2:43:22
This is because the vast majority of companies in the private solid waste industry take safety very seriously.
2:43:29
And some of the rhetoric by some of the special interest groups about the lack of safety in the industry is outdated and does not reflect the current focus by the majority of licensees.
2:43:39
And some of the data that's frequently cited by these groups is misleading as it usually includes construction and demolition companies regulated by the BIC but don't collect trash or recycling.
2:43:49
And in fact, mister chairman, the outdated data infuses, in
Shaun Abreu
2:43:55
fact, expired.
2:43:56
Thank you.
2:44:02
Dave David, you wanna wrap up?
2:44:03
I'll give you twenty seconds.
David Biderman
2:44:04
Thank you, sir.
2:44:06
Last thing, a final word about e bikes.
2:44:08
E bikes are a menace to the drivers and helpers who collect waste and recycle in New York City.
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Doesn't matter whether you're CWZ or not, it's a threat to workers.
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I hear about it at every single safety training that I do.
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They're dangerous.
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They're crashing into and in some instances killing pedestrians, and they operate in frequent violation of the law.
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We should encourage PD, the BIC, and others to enforce existing traffic laws on them and not just on the Carters.
2:44:35
Thank you.
Shaun Abreu
2:44:35
Thank you so much for your testimony.