It seems like a common sense way of stopping your bin being blown over.
But Orkney residents ended up in a stand-off with the council – because they were weighing down their wheelie bin lids with stones.
Many residents in Orkney, particularly in more exposed areas, put stones on top of their bins.
This stops them being blown over or stop the lid from flapping open on windy days – of which Orkney has plenty.
Last month, a row erupted when bin crews were told they weren’t supposed to remove the stones.
This meant bins weren’t emptied – and that left residents angry and confused. Some took to social media to vent their frustration.
While some commenters took good-natured verbal pot-shots at the situation, others were far more critical. Some even criticised the bin men.
What went wrong?
Until recently, the island’s bin men had been using their own judgment on whether it was safe to remove stones or, if they were too big, leaving them be.
But in a meeting in October, in preparation for winter, it is understood they were told not to move any stones.
The bin men – and the council says the crews are currently all-male – did as they were told and left all the bins with stones unemptied.
A few weeks down the line and the council re-jigged its guidance so the bin men could go back to removing stones where they weren’t too heavy or large.
This was announced to the public. However, the bin crews’ risk assessment wasn’t updated at the same time.
So, the bin men still couldn’t remove the stones, despite the council’s announcement.
This added to the ire of already frustrated residents.
Back where we started?
The latest from Orkney council on the spat is that, as of yesterday, the situation is now back to the pre-October meeting status quo.
The bin men are once again allowed to use their own judgement when removing the stones.
Any stones and bins that are left unemptied will be photographed by the crews and the owner will be told why their bin hasn’t been emptied.
However, this is for a six-week trial period as the council looking into what else could be done to keep bins weighed down and lids shut.
Hayley Green is the council’s corporate director for neighbourhood services and infrastructure.
She spoke about the recent situation around Orkney’s bins.
She said that, while that guidance had been there for some time, the bin crews had been moving the stones as they “like to be helpful”.
As such, any ridicule the crews have received has really annoyed her.
When the situation blew up, she met the crews to ask them what they wanted to do.
From that feedback, they decided that the crew could continue to lift stones.
This was as long as they weren’t expected to lift anything too big or heavy. A limit of 2kg and nothing much bigger than a house brick, was established.
However, she admits the implementation of the new guidance “went a bit wrong”.
She said: “I released that guidance but the manager of the team had been on annual leave that week.
“So, he came back and said we’d need to update the health and safety risk assessment, which is true.
“That’s why, for a week or so, we had a situation where the guidance said one thing but the bin men were still leaving stones.
“That created more confusion. I put my hands up to that.
“We were trying our hardest, during a very fast-changing situation, to get new guidance out there. But we didn’t keep up with our risk assessment.”
“The current position is, as of yesterday, the bin men have been totally briefed and they’re instructed to lift a stone so long as it’s the right size and weight.”
“If anyone takes the mickey, we will have a conversation with the resident.
“We’re just asking people to sensible and reasonable. And the vast majority of them will be.
“It’s a little thing but it causes a huge amount of aggravation.”
Mrs Green was asked about the online response to the situation.
Her take on this was that the council has a duty of care to its employees.
‘Don’t have a go at binmen’
She said the council is willing to listen to criticism. But she said it’s “really not on for people to be having a go” at the crews.
She added: “Lots of people have experience of people in their families who have suffered through work-related injuries.”
Asked about the effect on staff morale, she was “sure there will have been”.
For those who wondered, Mrs Green also confirmed she does not weigh down her own bins with stones or bungee cords.
Conversation