Hi all,

This is a request for advice about an subject which has arisen at the firm I work for.

We are employed by estate management companies to empty litter and dog waste bins which are put up around the public open spaces on many new housing estates.  It's an unpleasant task which nobody enjoys.

The dog waste bins are usually 40 litre capacity and our clients want to go to 60 litres as they smaller ones sometimes fill up between collections (currently fortnightly).  

The bins are on posts and the top of the bin is around waste height requiring our operatives to lift the bag upward out of the bin.  

Dog waste is pretty heavy - it has a high liquid content.  The guidance I have read for lifting from waste height suggest a maximum weight of 10kg - 20kg can be lifted safely (less for a female operative).

A full 40 litre bin will easily weigh more than 20kg.  A full 60 litre bin obviously more.

I am trying to think of a way that operatives can empty bins safely.

Some solutions I have suggested are:

More frequent emptying / using two people to empty - adds cost to the contract which will lead to us losing it.

Floor standing bins with front opening where the waste container can be 'rolled out' rather than having to be lifted up.  More expensive up front cost.

Some sort of mechanical lifting aid - but I can't find anything to do this using Google.

I wondered if there are any members out there (perhaps working for councils) who have come across this problem and found a solution?

In an ideal world cost would not be a constraint and ultimately if we can't find a safe way to do the work we will have to let it go.  However, I'm hoping to avoid that.

Thank you for your time.

Have you looked at what orher companies do, they may already have the answer.

Where do the bags of doggy doo go.

Can they be lifted/transferred into a wheely bin and emptied by the refuse collection people.

Well done for looking after this votal role.

Good luck.

INDG143 does not provide "safe" loads for manual handling and personally I would not like to be asked to carry 20kg of dog mess that close to my body.

I can envisage these post mounted bins involving a lot of twisting and foot movement from the operators as they transfer the content to the back of a waggon which should be eliminated by the use of handling aids.

Then of course there can be some pretty nasty diseases communicable from man's best friend.

I would be using these arguments to propose an uplift in contract cost to address the clients desires with what is practicable as solution.

One thing abundantly clear from you post is that the existing provision - size / frequency - is not meeting demand so perhaps the current fortnightly collection should actually be weekly and the size of the bins reduced?

Having had a quick look around the internet there appears to be an opportunity to "improve" the current general provision of a bag in a box approach.