Safety campaign after 72 bin lorry collisions

A Barnsley Council refuse collection vehicle

A council has said it wants to reduce the number of crashes involving its bin lorries to "zero" after 72 incidents in three years.

A safety campaign has been launched in Barnsley, where collisions with waste collection vehicles have been described as "avoidable".

The council's executive director of growth and sustainability, Matt O'Neill, said the refuse industry was one of the most "dangerous" in the UK.

He added: "There are many risks involved in waste collection, not just vehicle collisions, as highlighted all too tragically by the death of a waste collection worker in Coventry."

Earlier this year, an inquiry found the death of a council waste collector in Coventry, who became entangled in lifting equipment in January 2023, was a "foreseeable" accident.

In December 2022, a woman in her 60s died after she was struck by the open rear door of a bin lorry in the village of Wentworth, Rotherham.

In Barnsley, none of the 72 collisions were fatal and, according to the council, the number of collisions across the borough is falling, with 16 incidents recorded this year compared to 22 in 2023 and 34 in 2022.

As part of the campaign, staff will receive extra training alongside the annual winter training programme and will start and finish shifts from the depot.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, this will ensure staff will have access to PPE and wellbeing checks from managers.

The council also called on residents to make sure bins are placed safely by making sure the lid is closed, not overfilling them and parking considerately to make sure vehicles can get past.

Mr O'Neill said: "It's vitally important we work with our teams to accelerate our progress towards zero collisions to ensure the welfare of our employees and the public.

"Thanks to the hard work of our staff in waste and recycling collection, we have seen vehicle collisions related to waste collection reduce over the past few years. However, we simply believe that any avoidable collision is one too many.

"Achieving zero collisions across the year is an ambitious target. However, we have seen other councils make great progress against similarly ambitious targets and we are convinced that by working together with our dedicated waste and collection teams, we can reach Target Zero and keep everybody safe."

Barnsley Council said the programme would not result in any change to the service.

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