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The Health & Safety Measures Behind Your Skip Hire
The Health & Safety Measures Behind Your Skip Hire
The health and safety of you, the public and our team here at Brown Recycling is of the utmost importance to us. When it comes to hiring a skip, there are numerous health and safety aspects involved in the process to protect all parties.
It can often seem overwhelming when the term ‘health & safety’ gets mentioned, but there’s no need to panic – this month we’ll explain the different facets to be considered with your skip hire and who is responsible for them.
Getting a skip licence
When hiring a skip, it’s always important to first establish where you’ll have your skip placed. If you’ve no room for a skip on your property, that will mean having it placed on a pavement or public highway.
This means there are risks to the general public and a licence is required to ensure you’re not falling foul of the law. Your local council will be in charge of providing skip licences, but each council does things differently – at Brown Recycling we will apply for the licence, saving you the additional time and hassle.
A skip licence generally ensures the following criteria will be met (rules may differ by region):
- Your skip won’t block pavements or entrances and exits
- Your skip won’t block access to utility points
- Your skip won’t be within 15m of a junction
- A parking suspension is in place
Check with your skip hire company to find out who is responsible for acquiring a licence for your skip hire when it will be placed on a pavement or road.
Night Safety
If your skip is going to be on a public highway overnight, there are other things you’ll need to do in order to adhere to health and safety. The most important thing to do is set up lights and markings which will make it clear to those driving in the dark that there is a skip in the road. Items you will require include (rules may differ by region):
- Traffic cones
- Flashing safety lamps
- Reflective strips
- Contact details of the hire company
The exact rules will depend on your location and your skip hire company may be able to assist you with these items. It is important that you factor these in, especially over the course of a hire term.
Hazardous Waste
The waste you put into the skip is itself a health and safety issue. Since it will be open to the surrounding environment, and will also be collected by staff from the company you hire from, it is important that hazardous waste is not placed in your skip.
There are a number of items which you are prohibited from placing in a skip due to environmental factors, including:
- Chemicals & pesticides
- Asbestos
- Batteries
- Electrical items
- Medical waste
- Fluorescent tubes
- Tyres
- Gas cylinders
- Light bulbs
- Oils & paints
- Creosote/CCA Treated Fence Panels
- Telegraph Poles
- Railway Sleepers
- POPs (Persistent Organic Pollutants) such as upholstered furniture
Any of these items puts both the public, as well as skip hire staff at risk, not to mention that they contaminate general waste, making it harder to recycle and dispose of your waste. To find out if your chosen skip hire company will accept a particular type of waste when you’re unsure, simply contact them to clarify.
If you require more details about health and safety when hiring a skip – whether your a homeowner or a commercial outfit – we’ll be happy to help. Simply contact the team at Brown Recycling to find out if we can help with permits and for a full list of what you can and can’t place in your skip.
Got any burning questions?
You can ask us a question online using our contact form. Simply provide your name, email (purely for confirmation purposes) and the details of your enquiry, and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible.
Why choose Browns Recycling?
- Easy & Convenient
- Domestic or Commercial usage
- Any size, any budget solution
What our clients say about us
“We are hugely grateful to Brown Recycling for their help on DIY SOS: The Big Build in Stoke. Dave and the team went above and beyond to clear the site and then bring in other suppliers who also supported this great cause. Thanks to the generosity of countless suppliers and volunteers, Stoke now has a community centre that will support its residents for many years to come.”
Read more testimonials
Fully accredited by leading industry bodies
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Excellent service on a recent Hazardous waste removal from one of our sites. Paddy and Stacey wasted no time in arranging for our waste to be removed in surprisingly quick turnaround. 10/10...
1 week ago -
Hired a skip to clear a huge pile of garden waste. Arrived on time, picked up bang on time, dead easy to book and pay. Courteous, helpful drivers. Job done! just as it should be, without drama. Highly...
1 month ago -
Very professional service and the customer service team are very helpful and knowledgeable. We have been working with browns and using their services for a number of years and cannot fault it. Very co...
1 month ago -
Terry was very efficient. We will use brown for skips again...
2 months ago -
Had problems with getting the skip into our drive but Browns persisted and 3 trucks later the 3rd driver got the job done. Incredible service from a very professional and competent company. Special me...
2 months ago -
Really efficient service, competitive price and they dropped off skip exactly where we asked them to. Easy to book a skip over the weekend using their online booking system. Very helpful when we nee...
3 months ago -
I ordered a skip at short notice and it arrived as requested. Having finished with it early Terry came and collected it very promptly which freed up the driveway. A Good service and reasonably priced....
3 months ago -
Brilliant service - I booked for the wrong date, but Browns were really helpful and changed the booking at the last minute....
3 months ago -
We chose Brown Recycling because out of the firms we rang the lady on the end of the phone knew exactly what we needed and was very helpful. ( Yes you can place a skip in a council paying car park) A...
4 months ago -
A big thanks to Phil, always helpful and polite when collecting cardboard, nothing too much trouble ....
5 months ago -
Christie has been great in providing us with a total review of our waste services on site. If you are looking at reviewing your waste service then I would highly recommend that you reach out to her as...
6 months ago -
really fast and a easy process. Thank you Christie...
6 months ago -
Christie has been most helpful and informative whilst booking a new service for plastic and general waste recycling. Would recommend :)...
6 months ago -
Christie was very helpful, she managed the whole process very efficiently and met our expectations. We now have the service and commercial offering we need for our business waste. We would recommend...
9 months ago -
Quick and really reliable service.... was a pleasure dealing with Christie!!!...
9 months ago -
Requested amendment to current waste collection. Very helpful and was able to answer all queries and adapt to our requirements. Definitely recommend...
10 months ago -
We had a visit today from Mark and Andy dropping off our new waste bin. I would just like to acknowledge their outstanding customer service. They disposed of the built up waste that we had gathered si...
11 months ago -
Full marks to Andy and Mark. Went above and beyond today and would highly recommend them to anybody looking to recycle large quantities of waste. Professional, efficient and very approachable...
11 months ago -
First time using Browns, they were clear, efficient and got the job done. Will continue to use their services....
1 year ago -
New to sorting a bin service for our new business. Christie and Brown Recyling has been great with helping us select the right type of bin required as well as not overspending for the sake of it. He...
1 year ago -
Super easy to set up a long term skip hire, Christie made things nice and clear and the prices were good too! everything was ready to go really quick, highly recommend Browns...
1 year ago