Sanitary Bins

[MrMrsJones]

I have looked for information about providing sanitary bins for females within a voluntary organisation, think Girl Guides, Brownies, Youth Club type scenario

So no paid members of staff, and young 12+ boys and girls attending.

Legally they need to be provided if it is a 'place of work' or if members of the public will use the toilets.

Do they also need to be provided by law, in the establishment I have suggested above?

At the moment, we are told the sanitary products need to be bagged up and taken home at the end of the night.

If you google there are companies which provide cardboard sanitary bins which can then just be bin bagged once they are full and thrown away with normal rubbish. They aren’t expensive.

It might be worth getting one of those, so then you’re only arguing about the black bin contract....

A few places I'm involved, with the halls just have covered bins in the ladies toilets and it's up to each group to empty them into the outside bin after the session is finished, I think a pp is right you need to fight for a bin collection and not worry about sanitary bins unless you are willing to pay for it to be collected by a company.

@MrMrsJones

I think we should have a contract for a black bin, and sanitary bin.

If they wont provide a sanitary facility, then at the very least a black bin

which takes us back to the previously asked question of, are you prepared to pay for it ? (the group you run, not you personally, of course).

No, if I am giving up my night to run a Brownie Pack, for example, I don't then want to be taking any rubbish home with me, but then, if I am a volunteer at that Scout Hut, or Church or wherever it is you are meeting, then I don't want to be coming out every night, after each group has finished, to be emptying bins and taking that rubbish home with me either.
So I would talk to the people running the building and say that I don't want to do this, and is there any way that all the people that use the hall could chip in to pay for someone to empty the bins each week.

Interesting thoughts, thank you for taking the time to answer.

I don't want to take the rubbish home, as I have enough in my own bin without the extra amount from the group.

We own the building and another group, similar to ours use it.

I think im going to have to suck it up.

Contact the council see what they will take to uplift weekly nobody wants to be taking rubbish home.

I volunteer for girl guiding and the hall we use doesn't have sanitary bins. We also have to take any rubbish away with us. It's never bothered me to be honest. How many people need to change pads/tampons during a 1.5 hour meeting?

It's 2.5 hours and a good proportion of girls

It sounds like your Girl Guides group are covering any statutory duty to provide sanitary bins by requiring you (and, presumably other volunteer leaders) to remove the waste when you leave instead of paying for a contract with a commercial provider.

I think your recourse would be to tell the committee who run the group that while you're happy to run the session you aren't prepared to take litter home and see what other arrangements you can all brainstorm to fill that gap and keep things running.

Why dont you just send an email out, telling all that they need to take any used sanitary pads home with them to dispose of? Then just stick a few nappy bags out in the toilets.

They have no legal obligation.