Warning after gas cylinder dumped in bin

REFUSE collectors in Perthshire were lucky to escape unscathed when an explosive 13kg butane gas cylinder was dumped in a bin, which was emptied into their lorry.

The discovery came just a week after an ordnance shell casing was dumped in a metal recycling skip in Perth and Kinross, before being transported to a reprocessing centre in Inverkeithing.

Perth and Kinross Council has issued a warning to residents after the highly flammable canister was disposed of in a blue-lidded bin last Wednesday, putting the lives of their staff at risk.

Luckily, the explosive 13kg canister was not crushed in the compactor of the lorry.

The pressurised cylinder was discovered after it had been transported to a waste recycling centre, mixed in among 150 tonnes of supposedly recyclable waste.

Councillor Peter Barrett, who represents Perth City Centre, slammed the reckless actions, which compromised the safety of refuse workers.

He said: “No one with any sense puts a pressurised gas cylinder into their bins. That shows a complete and utter disregard for the safety of our bin men and women.”

The discovery of the explosive casing at the Fife plant resulted in the bomb squad being called to make sure the device was not live.

Mark Butterworth, head of environmental and consumer services, said: “We’re pleased to see householders making good use of their recycling bins but some items can be extremely dangerous if disposed of incorrectly.

“In this incident, the canister was dumped in a blue wheelie bin and was not seen when it was loaded on to the bin lorry. It’s only by chance it was not crushed, which could have had serious consequences for our staff.

“Gas canisters of any size, whether blow torch cans or big cylinders, should not be put in wheelie bins.”

The local authority asked people to follow information on gas cylinders about how they should be disposed of properly.

MOST people feel they never get to the bottom of their dirty washing pile – but imagine working in one of Tayside’s biggest and busiest laundries.

That’s what Jane Livingstone has been doing for the past 24 years in her job at Ninewells Hospital’s laundry department.

Jane, who comes from Menzieshill, says NHS Tayside’s 36-strong laundry team is one of the most important parts of the hospital.

She said: “The van drivers pick up linen from various hospitals within NHS Tayside because it is one central laundry service.

“We take linen from hospitals and clinics in the likes of Stracathro Hospital, Perth Royal Infirmary and Broxden Dental Hospital – a whole variety of departments.

“We also do all the wards and departments in Ninewells.

“When the linen comes to us, there are two different streams, the white and the red.

“The red stream is for foul linen, so if it has been soiled or is wet in any way it goes through a different process.

“We do 50 kilogram loads and then the clean linen is separated out into bottom sheets, top sheets, pillowcases, pyjamas and thermal spreads.

“Then it is all folded either through a machine or by hand and is handed back out to the hospitals in special bags.

“There are quite a few departments that sometimes get forgotten about.

“Patients see the sheets and don’t always realise we are here washing it all.”

She added: “We are chuffed to work at the laundry because we think we are one of the main departments at NHS Tayside – even if it sometimes doesn’t feel like it.

“There would be a bit of a panic if we didn’t open the laundry one day.

“Some wards hand in linen every day and other clinics are about two or three times a week but there is always a big stock to hand if something did happen. There would always be linen for patients.”

Jane said it can sometimes be quite a difficult job as it can be physically demanding and repetitive.

She added: “We have a large turnover of linen.

“It is an ongoing job – as soon as the pile clears another van full of dirty linen comes in. It is a physically demanding job too because we need to lift all the linen into cages.

“But the team here is just one big family. We have a good laugh and we all get on well.

“It is a good crowd to work with.”

Jane said she and her colleagues have noticed an increase in their workload during the coronavirus outbreak.