The City of Cockburn's response to PerthNow Cockburn about City Waste Collection Driver Campbell Eunson's good deed
Questions: Are employees trained/expected to do this type of act, or is this one a case of going above and beyond expectation. Any internal recognition for such? And in a more general sense, is it part of the service that local residents can actually request to have their bins collected and taken to/from the verge? If so, any restrictions around who that service is for?
Answer (Acting Chief Executive Officer Anton Lees): I was blown away when I reviewed the video of Campbell Eunson jumping out of his waste truck to collect a bin that hadn’t been placed on the verge for collection, in the pouring rain no less!
Campbell’s genuine actions are so much about the community spirit that makes the City of Cockburn the fantastic place to live and work in that it is.
But it’s also not unusual for our waste team to go above and beyond to complete its daily work to the high standard that is the envy of many suburbs and towns throughout Perth and WA.
Our drivers are often celebrated on social media and with messages, phone calls and emails from local residents to our City.
Locals regularly tell us how impressed they are by our drivers who go out of their way to return to empty bins that have been missed, or even to stop and get out of their vehicle to hand a rubbish truck-mad child one of our very popular waste education packages, complete with a mini rubbish truck and puzzles, which they cherish after meeting our drivers.
Even just a friendly wave from our drivers can make someone’s day and our exceptional team knows that, because they also really look after each other out in the field.
This was reflected in the 2022 Staff Recognition awards when the City’s Waste Collection Team took out the Team of the Year award.
The team is reliability personified! At one stage it was down four trucks last year, and the team itself was short five staff members, due to Covid-related vehicle parts supply chain issues and illnesses.
But the team still managed to finish all the residential/commercial runs by COB every day.
The team’s KPI is 1,150 bins per day, however this has reached 1,500 bins per day depending on vehicle and resources availability, all while achieving a reduction from 33 to 10 property incidents.
The team always goes above and beyond the expected level of service, with all drivers staying on the street to help each other out, to ensure all runs are complete before returning to our operations centre.
Campbell’s dedication is part and parcel of the pride that this team has for its work, its customers and the City of Cockburn as whole.
Some other facts about the City’s in-house Waste Collection Service:
- The Team provides a ‘Priority Service’ to those too infirm to present their bins on the verge, subject to receipt of a Doctor’s Certificate
- Weekly recycling, weekly general waste and fortnightly garden bin services
- The skilled drivers successfully negotiate their large side lift vehicles through a variety of streets in Cockburn, including the small laneways and neighbourhood friendly roads that are commonplace in today’s residential developments
- All drivers receive in house training with one of our many experienced drivers and must pass their VOC (Verification of Competency) before setting out on their own
- Drivers return to service missed bins, that day or the next, when a resident forgets to present their bin on their usual day
- The Team has recently integrated mobile smart tablets to their daily runs to improve functionality, service and efficiency
- The Team is supported by a passionate and highly motivated Waste Education unit that promotes correct bin use, waste education and environmental sustainability.