A binman whose boss prohibited him from wearing shorts on 'health and safety' grounds has completed his shift in a fluorescent kilt instead. Lee Moran, 50, launched his protest as temperatures soared above 25C after managers at York City Council told him that he had to remain covered up.
The dad-of-three had campaigned to wear shorts for years in the height of summer but was always told that the health and safety rules did not permit it. One manager, however, did say that 'kilts' were allowed, so on June 11, he chose to don a fluorescent orange kilt.
Lee said that the response to his protest has been 'absolutely amazing' and he hopes to convince the council to change its approach before the temperatures rise next week, Grimsby Live reports.
He said: “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 centre. 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.
He added: “The public response has been absolutely amazing, and I’ve even had some City of York councillors ring me and message me saying, “We’re right behind you.”
Lee said he'd always trusted his managers when they told him he was banned from wearing shorts on health and safety grounds. But when he went online recently and looked up the regulations, he was shocked to find out that this was in fact untrue.
He said: “This year, 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. 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?’ I said, ‘It’s alright saying ‘health and safety’ but you’re not taking our well-being into consideration at the same time.
"We’re sweating in these trousers, we’re at risk of collapse.’”
Lee said he ordered the £60 kilt online from a supplier in Canada. He said: “Instead of going to work like I normally do, I met up on the job.
“I had my normal work attire on, and I waited for the manager to ring the driver to see if I had the kilt on. As soon as the manager rang up, I got changed into the kilt and worked all day in it.
He added: “My workmates are all for it and that. They loved it.” Lee, who at sites works across the city of York, Monday to Friday, said a lot of local residents had sympathized with his protest.
He said: “Loads of people came up. They wondered why I was wearing a kilt, so I explained to them and they said, 'That’s ridiculous, I can’t believe they won’t let you wear shorts.'
Lee said he hoped that York City Council would change their policy, especially as another nearby local authority was letting their binmen ditch their trousers. But he had concerns they weren’t acting fast enough, with thermostats set to rise above 40C next week in some parts of the country.
He said: “They’ve phoned Scarborough council, just 40 miles from us. They’re allowed to wear shorts, so they’ve asked them about their short policy. And basically, they’ve gone out and got some shorts from suppliers, so hopefully, we’ll get a review.
“However, the health and safety manager just happens to be away on holiday this week. We’re saying we need this now – we don’t want to be waiting another week, it’s going to be red hot next week.
“They said, ‘these things take time’, but we haven’t got time. The weather isn’t going to wait for us.”
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