Cleanzine: your weekly cleaning and hygiene industry newsletter 13th February 2025 Issue no. 1149

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Unite lambasts bin lorry firm charging £ thousands for safety upgrade ordered after refuse worker's death

The Unite Union has slammed Netherlands-based bin lorry manufacturer Terberg after the BBC revealed it has been charging councils thousands of pounds for a safety upgrade it said would be fitted for free after a worker was crushed to death..

The company was ordered to improve safeguards on thousands of lorries across the country by a coroner after the death in January 2023 of David Carpenter, a 60-year-old Coventry city council refuse worker and Unite member.

Mr Carpenter, who had worked on the bins in Coventry since he was 18, activated a sensor while he was at the back of a Dennis Eagle truck in January 2023, entangling his coat in a bin lift. He was dropped into the back of the bin lift before an automatic compaction cycle started.

Terberg developed a free safety software upgrade but - according to Unite - has been demanding that councils and refuse companies pay thousands of pounds to have parts swapped out before it is fitted. The BBC report states that two waste firms and an HGV technician said the parts are identical and do not need to be swapped.

Terberg, according to the BBC report, has said that allegations that it was trying to make money out of Mr Carpenter's death were "unfounded and false". The BBC also reported that Terberg said it was rolling out a new safety package including both hardware and software upgrades, along with a new sensor to shut the mechanism down if someone was pulled into a vehicle.

Unite national officer for local authorities, Clare Keogh, says: "Unite is clear councils and refuse companies should be putting the safety of workers above all else, including costs. However, Terberg's extra charges are causing unnecessary delays that are putting lives at risk. Frankly, this seems like the worst kind of opportunism from Terberg.

"Unite has been campaigning for local authorities across the country to fit safety upgrades as quickly as possible. Terberg's totally unacceptable response to a tragedy is preventing this - it must deliver free safety upgrades with no strings attached immediately."

www.bbc.co.uk | www.unitetheunion.org

23rd January 2025