A non-profit that oversees clothing donation bins will provide new safety enhanced bins in town, making it difficult for people to climb into the bins to access clothes.
A district official, Nav Gill, recently spoke to the bin operator who confirmed that a new bin design has been completed by UBC which will make it difficult for anyone to climb into the bins.
Last year, a man died after getting trapped in the clothing donation bin in West Vancouver and similar incident have happened across the country.
Gill, a portfolio administrator at the district, was responding to concerns expressed by a citizen who saw someone come out of the clothing bin on the Canadian Tire parking lot on Mamquam Road.
“Daniel, who operates the fresh fruit stand near the donation bins, tells me he has seen this happen many times over the past years,” the citizen added.
In early 2019, the district removed all bins on district land, except at the landfill. The landfill bin is only available when the landfill is open and the landfill attendant is on site, Gill said.
Alan Hendren, the executive director of Developmental Disabilities Association, said the organisation has operated a bin in Squamish since 2002. She said the organisation is removing all bins with “rolling” chutes and replacing them with open chute, from which people can climb out.
Hendren said they have been working with Dr. Ray Taheri, professor of engineering at UBC, on safe bin designs. “We intend to continue working with him to further improve bin safety,” she said.
