UK firm calls for ban on commercial rolltop bins

Waste management and recycling services firm BusinessWaste.co.uk, based in York, England, in the United Kingdom, has called on a ban or mandatory design changes to a type of commercial collection bin the company says is responsible for a series of accidents.

“The commercial roll top bin needs to be banned or completely redesigned to put an end to a series of accidents in the waste management industry,” BusinessWaste says in an email sent in early January 2016 by the company’s Mark Hall.

According to Hall and BusinessWaste.co.uk, “It's all too easy for the roll top to slam shut, often on an unsuspecting arm, and it’s this history of incidents that make [roll top containers] unsuitable in a trade that prides itself on its safety standards.”

“The fact that most injuries caused by roll tops bins are relatively minor in the grand scheme of things means that they’re overlooked as a cause of workplace injuries,” says Hall. “But minor injuries stack up, and no employer likes paying sick pay and compensation for preventable incidents.”

BusinessWaste contends the design of the bin means they can shut quickly without warning. While the lid itself is made of plastic, it is heavy-duty enough that it still packs enough of a punch to break bones, according to the company.

“While perfectly safe to use when new, the lid mechanism tends to seize up over time, meaning they are either wedged open permanently or act in an unpredictable manner when being emptied,” the company’s press release continues. “That's when they can slam shut as the mechanism frees itself and become a danger to operators.”

BusinessWaste also quotes two anonymous victims of the bin lids:

• “One minute I was wheeling a roll top back to the company’s bin bay, the next I was rolling around on the floor clutching three broken fingers. My mates say it just slammed back shut on me for no reason. I was off work for months,” remarks the first.
• “More fool me to try to force a jammed mechanism on one of those stupid bins; broken wrist,” says the other.

BusinessWaste.co.uk adds, “Roll tops were introduced as a convenient alternative to the lift-top bin. They’re also a space-saving measure for areas where there’s little room to lift a lid. However, this convenience has introduced a new level of risk [that] is unacceptable.”

“Either a new, safer mechanism is introduced across the board, or we roll back the roll tops and just use lift-top bins from now on,” Hall comments.