And, as temperatures hit lows of minus 16 degrees centigrade this week, Biffa Waste Services urged managers in the commercial sector to check their bins are locked when not in use.
“Anyone who is asleep, intoxicated or determined to remain hidden, may not realise the danger they are in.” – Ray Hipkin, Biffa
Biffa said it had recorded 47 near-misses over the winter, where only alert drivers who spotted people in bins at the last minute prevented “severe injury or death”.
The company said the current cold weather was making waste containers at the back of supermarkets, pubs, restaurants, shops and industrial estates seem like tempting shelters.
It is warning homeless people that they risk an eight-foot fall onto a solid steel floor if they are picked up by a collection vehicle, followed by compaction “equivalent to being hit by a car travelling at 30mph”.
Risk
Ray Hipkin, the company’s divisional health and safety manager said: “Containers can seem like a warm place to sleep for homeless people, especially in the winter months. But these people are risking their lives by doing so.
“There is a clear checking procedure for our operatives and this is laid down in our instructions to them. Many bins also carry warnings, but anyone who is asleep, intoxicated or determined to remain hidden, may not realise the danger they are in and can often remain undiscovered despite our best efforts,” Mr Hipkin said.
One homeless man in Bristol recently suffered broken limbs after being tipped into the back of a waste lorry. Another man in the West Midlands was killed when he suffered the same fate.
Biffa is asking warehouse and factory managers, supermarkets, shopkeepers, landlords and restaurant owners who know that their bins are being used by homeless people to lock them up when not in use, if possible, and to report it to their waste contractor so they can be especially vigilant.
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