Vibrating binmen are the reason behind a decision to cut refuse collections in rural areas of Fife to once a fortnight.
The new arrangements given the green light by councillors on Thursday will save Fife Council between £50,000 and £90,000 a year.
Collections in more isolated areas are being restricted because the vibrations suffered by staff when bin lorries trundle over farm tracks and rural roads could be in contravention of the Control of Vibration at Work Regulations 2005.
The environment, enterprise and transportation committee also agreed to risk assess access roads not maintained by public funds and establish road-end collection points on routes deemed unsuitable for bin lorries.
This was favoured over a Fife-wide policy of road-end collections described in the report as “extreme.”
Head of environmental services Fraser Thomson said ignoring the legislation could cost the council in years to come and said the decision was a compromise.
He said, “That is storing up costs in future years for claims against the council if we don’t address it … This compromise will be acceptable hopefully to the rural communities involved and will provide them with a good service that is hopefully efficient.”
Refuse collectors are at risk from whole body vibration (WBV).
According to the Health and Safety Executive, WBV is transferred to the body through the feet or seat of employees driving vehicles over rough surfaces and can cause health problems.
Each year, environmental services spends almost £300,000 on repairing what has been described as “avoidable damage” to fleet vehicles, with poor road surfaces partly responsible for the expenditure.
The committee report stated, “A blanket road end collection represents the extreme position.
“It is clear that the status quo is not an option as a do nothing approach could have serious implications for the health of employees.”