"Hard to Even Touch" Exceeds 48°C… A 3.5-Ton Truck 'Filled' to the Brim

[Anchor]

Despite the scorching heat wave, sanitation workers are locked in a fierce battle under the blazing sun to ensure clean and pleasant daily lives for citizens. While they desperately need to rest and cool off between grueling tasks, the reality makes it difficult to do so.

Reporter Hong Seung-yeon accompanied them on their garbage collection rounds.

[Reporter]

Sanitation workers load garbage piled up along the roadside into a truck.

It is not even 9:00 AM yet, but the temperature has already soared to 35°C (95°F).

Walking through alleys to collect trash quickly soaks their entire bodies in sweat.

[Yu Min-o / Sanitation Worker, Sejong City: These days, the sun comes up from early dawn, so from then on, it is a constant battle against the heat.]

Right now, I have been walking around various alleys for about 30 minutes, helping to move recyclable waste together.

It is so hot that sweat is streaming down my entire body like rain.

Moving large-scale bulky waste is even more grueling.

[One, two, three! Watch your legs!]

Wasted furniture that has been baked under the sunlight all day is hard to even touch.

The surface temperature well exceeds 48°C (118°F).

[Jung Nam-gu / Sanitation Worker, Sejong City: This year is even hotter than last year… We bring ice water when we set out, but it melts right away, even inside the truck.]

Due to the risks of sharp waste and falling objects, they are supposed to wear helmets, safety shoes, and even safety goggles, but doing so is not easy because of the sweat.

[Cho Heon-gwang / Sanitation Worker, Sejong City: We sweat so much that we have to constantly take them off and wipe our faces, so in reality, not many people wear them.]

With garbage continuously pouring in, they can neither stop nor postpone the work.

This collection truck started picking up waste at 7:30 AM.

In just an hour and a half, a 3.5-ton truck was filled to the brim.

[Jongseob / Sanitation Worker, Sejong City: We cannot postpone it. Odors and bugs develop right away, so we have to dispose of it immediately on the same day.]

There is no adequate space to rest briefly between the grueling tasks.

While rest areas are provided, it is not easy to access them due to the nature of the job, which requires constantly moving across assigned zones.

Finding any visible patch of shade to briefly cool off is all they can do.

[Kim Gu-yeong / Sanitation Worker, Sejong City: Usually, there are small resting places here and there. But because we keep moving around, not having accessible resting spots is quite difficult.]

To protect the pleasant daily lives of citizens, sanitation workers quietly continue their work today in the middle of the scorching streets.

(Video by Kim Min-chul)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.