Skip Hire Safety Tips – Advice when hiring a skip

Skip Hire Safety Tips

When hiring a skip there are a few things you will need to think about to ensure the safety of yourself, the public, the driver and the workers sorting your skip once it has been collected.

Skip Placement – The first thing you will need to think about when considering skip hire safety is where the skip is going to be sited. If the skip is going to be placed on your property there needs to be access for the driver to be able to drop the skip easily.

It is vital that you let the skip company know  prior to delivery if you have low overhead cables or manhole covers that may pose a potential risk.

If the skip needs to be put on the road you will need to let the skip company know so they can apply for a road permit with the council. The council will only approve a permit if they can be sure that the skip is going to be left in a safe place (not close to a bend in the road or on double yellow lines).

It is the skip companies’ responsibility when delivering to make sure that the skip has lighting and signs to make sure it is visible, however once the skip has been left you should be making sure that the signs and lighting stay in place.

You would be forgiven to think that a skip would be very hard to miss however we know from experience that cars can often miss them and drive or reverse into them! This is where the skip permit is vital!

Loading the Skip – When loading the skip you need to think about your own safety and the safety of other road users once it has been collected. We recommend that you put the heavy items at the bottom of the skip and the light items on top.

If you have heavy items to load into the skip or are wheel barrowing soil it may be beneficial for you to request a skip with a drop door to make loading it easier and prevent injuries.

Every skip company will tell you that one of the main problems they face is customers overloading their skips. This is when the waste is loaded past the sides of the skips. This makes the skip dangerous when it is being taken back to be tipped as waste could fall off the skip onto the road, or hit other vehicles and cause damage. You could also be charged extra for the extra weight so make sure you are hiring the correct size skip for your needs.

Remember that having to hire a second skip will ultimately cost you more than hiring one larger skip, even if they hold the same amount of waste!

A very overloaded skip!

Hazardous waste – Most items can be placed in a skip. However there are a few restrictions when dealing with hazardous waste. Items that cannot be placed in the skip include asbestos, fridges and freezers, gas bottles, needles, oils, paints and car tyres.

Many skip companies still sort their skips by hand, so when hazardous substances are put in the skip (we especially have this problem with asbestos) it can cause health hazards to the workers and you could be charged for this. You can find out more about hazardous substances and how to correctly dispose of them here.

If there is anything you are unsure about where skip hire safety is concerned please don’t hesitate to speak to one of our team at FindaSkip for guidance and advice and for a free, no obligation skip hire quote!