Hi Tall Paul, since you have taken a name whose initials are Tee Pee, you could be an Indian and most of us have seen the films about Cowboys and Indians.

Well there are lots of cowboys when it comes to waste management (though plenty of reputable operators as well). As example of the cowboys the "conman" who has recently been prosecuted by the Environment Agency for storage of asbestos waste in unlicensed facilities - including one near a school and a place where Girl Guides meet.

In terms of the guidance links, I suggest your starting point is Waste-06.pdf (wishforum.org.uk)

All the WISH guidance has a level of endorsement by the HSE.

But what this particular guidance doesn't do is give you some definitive pointers as to when a skip needs to be taken out of use for repair or the scrap heap.

So, we are back to the issue of deciding what is "reasonably practicable" - what's being put into the skip in terms of size and is it liable to fall off the back of a lorry?

If that does happen it's probably a breach of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and e.g. PUWER, but if it happens on the public highway also the Road Traffic Act and various road safety regulations.

At the end of the day deciding on when a skip is no longer sufficiently safe for continued use is going to come down to making somebody accountable for the decision.

....and if that person is a rogue, perhaps making an anonymous complaint to the regulator(s).