Across Australia, more than 500 Public Waste Transfer Stations (PWTS) are accessed by the general public. Many still rely on outdated, hazardous designs. Direct to landfill, Direct to Bin (sawtooth), and push pit configurations expose everyday users to construction industry risks.
Imagine a member of the public with no construction industry training being waved in at the gate of a busy construction site with no induction or escort. To then wander mostly unsupervised to various points around the site, get out on foot, close to trucks/machines and on elevated platforms to manually unload a pile of unknown material then drive off.
On a construction site, these conditions would trigger an immediate shutdown—yet at Public Waste Transfer Stations, it’s business as usual.
If PWTS were held to the same safety standards as any other industry they would be shut down.
As these public visitors are not workers, incidents are not always recorded, we often only get a sense of the magnitude of the risk as civil suits are settled or a WorkSafe group gets involved after a serious incident.
Read more: Waste and disaster – can we do better
Fatalities and serious injuries are common. Some examples:
NSW, 2014: Two members of the public died after falling into bins from elevated platforms at waste transfer stations, prompting a safety alert from SafeWork NSW.
WA 2021: A member of the public sustained a significant head injury when he fell into the pit at a waste transfer facility.
NSW 2022: A pedestrian was fatally struck by a telehandler whilst walking through a waste collection and recycling facility.
NT 2024: A member of the public sustained serious injuries after falling into a skip bin at the Howard Springs Waste Transfer Station
NSW 2019: 1 person injured and 1 killed by compactor on landfill at Eastern Creek waste management facility.
Dangerous by Design
Direct to bin (Sawtooth) and push pits often present major risks including:
- Falls risk from elevated platforms onto jagged waste.
- Pedestrian contact with public vehicles, trucks, forklifts and other machinery moving materials in and out of the site.
- Tripping over wheel stops while carrying bulky items.
- Sprains strains and lacerations in carrying and lifting waste material over barriers.
Direct-to-landfill/stockpile dumping exposes the public to:
- Contact with heavy equipment like compactors, trucks, and loaders.
- Vehicle on vehicle/machine incidents in shared zones.
- Exposure to hazardous materials in the stockpile.
- Sprains strains, trips and lacerations.
Regulatory pressure is mounting
Despite increased scrutiny by safety authorities around the country, the industry is slow to act. Most PWTS rely on basic administrative controls like painted lines, staff instructions and signage. Basic worksafe minimum standards require a WTS to provide AS1657 edge protection for elevated work, physical separation of machine and pedestrians, and full supervision of uninducted persons.
Traditional WTS designs are no longer fit for purpose in a safety-conscious world. Operators are obligated to provide the same duty of care for visitors as they are staff, or accept the likely civil and criminal consequences for ignoring these well documented risks.
A simple, quick and cost-effective fix:
LBin offers a proven, scalable, and cost-effective solution that meets modern expectations for both safety, and compliance.
The application of LBin system is the answer to these legacy problems, delivering real safety through smart engineering. Replacing hazardous setups with secure, ground-level disposal infrastructure that eliminates fall risks and separates people from machinery.
Doing nothing is no longer acceptable. LBin provides the step up the Waste industry urgently needs.