A garbage collector has gone viral after defying his bosses by wearing a skirt to work.
50-year-old Lee Moran is a trashman from York, England, who was left fuming when his local council banned him from wearing shorts while picking up trash despite summer temperatures reaching well above 80°F.
As the dad-of-three insisted, he wanted to wear shorts to work because he was worried he could faint or succumb to heat stroke as a result of working under the sun all day.
The York City Council, however, banned Lee from wearing shorts saying they pose health and safety risks by exposing his legs to sharp objects.
“For the last five years, I’ve been asking about wearing shorts, and they’ve just slung health and safety at me left right and center,” the man said.
“But one of the managers approached me and said ‘look, Lee, you can wear a kilt. There’s nothing about wearing a kilt.’ So I waited until the temperature reached over 25c, and Monday was the perfect opportunity for it.”
Lee continued: “The public response has been absolutely amazing, and I’ve even had some City of York councilors ring me and message me saying, ‘We’re right behind you.’”
The 50-year-old further argued that he has since discovered that there was no official ban on shorts while reviewing health and work safety regulations.
“I decided to have a look online. I’ve looked at the health and safety laws, and there are no laws regarding binmen wearing shorts. It’s up to our managers and health and safety at work,” the binman says.
“So I just put it forward to the managers, ‘Why are you using health and safety as an excuse when basically, it’s just public image?’ One of the managers then admitted it was basically due to ‘reputation,’ so I said, ‘We’re sweating, doing hard work in the sun just to look good for the public?’”
After the issue went viral, Lee was backed by his coworkers and they called on the city council to change their rules and allow them to work in shorts.
Meanwhile, Ben Grabham of the City of York Council spoke out to sympathize with the workers while defending the regulations saying pants protect trashmen from sharp objects.
“We’re all experiencing hot weather at the moment so can sympathize with anyone working in the direct sun. The health, safety and well-being of our staff is paramount,” Grabham said.
“The reason our waste collection crews wear trousers is to protect them against sharp objects that may be contained in recycling boxes or in bags.”
He continued: “We appreciate that working outdoors at this moment is very warm and we’re supporting our crews who are encouraged to take regular rest breaks and wear hats and sun cream that they are provided with.
“We’re undertaking a review of all our operations in extreme weather with our health and safety team, but we’re not sure a kilt will necessarily be the right option for our staff.”
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