Workers at Bristol Waste have been praised for their quick actions after a man, who was inside a bin, was suddenly thrown into a refuse lorry with the machinery on
A man sheltering inside a bin had a narrow escape in Bristol after being dropped inside a rubbish lorry.
Workers at Bristol Waste have been praised for their quick actions in immediately stopping the machinery inside the refuse collection lorry.
Emergency services were called and helped the man from the lorry, who fortunately appeared to have escaped obvious injuries and declined an ambulance.
The incident happened in the St Pauls area of Bristol on Monday morning. A spokesperson for Bristol Waste has said it has launched a full investigation to understand exactly what happened.
Bristol Waste also said it should provide a warning for people not to seek shelter in bins and would be reaching out to relevant organisations in the city to help get this message out.
“During the collection process, our crew became aware of a person who had been inside a waste container, and immediately stopped the machinery inside the truck,” a spokesperson for Bristol Waste confirmed.
“Emergency services were contacted, and the individual was safely assisted from the vehicle.
“The individual did not appear to have sustained any obvious injuries at the scene and declined medical assessment from the ambulance service.”
Bristol Waste said it was “treating this incident with the utmost seriousness and have launched a full investigation to understand how this occurred”.
The spokesperson added: “Bristol Waste’s priority remains the safety of the public and its crews, and Bristol Waste will take any necessary action following the outcome of the investigation,” reports BristolLive.
While Bristol Waste’s director of operations, Ricky Gayfer, said the incident could have ended in tragedy and hailed the actions of the workers on the bin lorry for stopping the machinery so quickly, which he put down to their “training and procedures”.
““Health and safety is of utmost importance to Bristol Waste and all our people,” he said.
“The crews followed their training and procedures and acted quickly – it is thanks to them that this did not end in tragedy.
“It is imperative that people do not seek shelter in bins, and we will be reaching out to relevant organisations in the city to help get this message out.”
