MANILA, Philippines — A Quezon City councilor asked the city’s garbage collectors to wear their body protection gear while doing their collection rounds to minimize their chances of acquiring com-municable and infectious diseases.

Third district councilor Allan Benedict Reyes made the call after residents observed that some workers of the city’s private garbage collection contractors do not wear the required cover-all uniforms.

The residents also said that some garbage collectors were even hauling garbage without protective gloves, further exposing them to all forms of bacterial and sometimes toxic waste materials.

Reyes said he will ask the garbage contractors to strictly enforce the wearing of protective gear for their personnel, adding that even with the protective gear the garbage collectors are already exposed to hazardous wastes materials which in the long run can affect their health.

The Quezon City Council has approved a resolution requiring the garbage collection contractors to provide proper cover-all uniforms and body protection gears to their garbage collectors to protect them from communicable diseases.

Councilor Jessica Castelo Daza of the city’s fourth district said the resolution authorizes the city’s En-vironmental Protection and Waste Management Department (EPWMD) to make sure the requirement is followed.