Information

Company warns over dangers of sleeping in bins

John Ashmore, June 6th 2010

Company warns over dangers of sleeping in bins The dangers of sleeping in bins have been outlined in a training DVD designed by waste management company Biffa, which claims it sees on average two incidents a week.

With an increase in the number of recycling bins in Britain, there are more opportunities than ever for rough sleepers to spend the night in bins, but at great personal risk. According to Biffa, if a person is tipped out of a bin while it is being unloaded into a lorry, they could fall more than eight feet onto a steel floor.

In one incident shown on the DVD, which The Pavement was sent by Biffa, a driver recalls how a man fell out of a bin into his lorry, breaking three of his ribs and sustaining a bad head injury.

The hydraulic machinery used by waste disposal companies is so loud that a person shouting for help would often not be heard above the noise.

Last October, Raymond Pickering, a rough sleeper in Nottingham, was crushed to death by a compacter in a waste disposal lorry. Mr Pickering had spent the night sleeping in the bin and was thought to be unconscious when he was tipped into the lorry. In Mr Pickering's case, the driver of the lorry also said that he had been advised not to 'root around' in bins because of worries over hypodermic needles being thrown into them.

We would encourage readers not only to stay well away from any bins, but also to warn anyone else from getting in one, as the dangers are very clear.

• BACK TO TOP