Deaths of homeless people sleeping in bins prompt calls for action

Abstract

Rough sleepers are sheltering in bins all year round, with surging homelessness in the UK blamed for a rising number of deaths by crushing and near misses while containers are being emptied, a waste industry report has found.

Homelessness charities and waste industry officials are calling for action to prevent “terrible fatalities”, after incidents in which vulnerable people sleeping in waste containers have died after being accidentally tipped into bin lorries.

At least seven people are known to have been killed in the last five years, according to the Health and Safety executive, and waste industry bosses have warned rising destitution in the UK is putting more lives at risk.