Introducing the two people who help make Skip Hire Magazine what it is: Sophie and Debbie. Without these two wonderful women, we don’t know where we’d be. We’re so glad they’re part of the team, that we decided (more like pleaded and begged) to make them Skip Chicks for December. If you’ve had the fortune to speak to them, you’ll know how great they are. If you’ve not had the fortune – let’s introduce them…

Hey ladies! Nice Santa dresses! Tell the readers what you do at Skip Hire Magazine.

Debbie: I’m media sales manager. I get people to advertise in the mag, and make sure they’re looked after and happy.

Sophie: I work in the Subscriptions department, I contact people to renew their subscriptions, and get people to start reading the magazine. It’s great fun, cos everyone loves it!

When you’re not working hard at Skip Hire Magazine Heights, what do you like to do?

Debbie: I love going to the gym, eating out and raving with my mates.

Sophie: I like going out, shopping and reading.

What are your plans this Christmas?

Debbie: I’m spending Christmas with my lovely husband at home, then we jet off to spend New Year in Lanzarote!

Sophie: I’m going home to Macclesfield to stay with my family and catch up with friends. Hopefully Christmas Day won’t be a repeat of last year when I got home after a night out at 4am on Christmas Day, then had to sit with my little brother at stupid o’clock opening presents, feeling very grim!

That’s what Christmas is about, Soph!What’s Santa getting you this year?

Debbie: A brand new iPod, and a bag of goodies!

Sophie: A new watch and some perfume!

What Skip Hunk would you like to unwrap this Christmas?

Sophie: Tom Meighan, the lead singer from Kasabian. He’s gorge!

Debbie: Clint Eastwood, when he was about 30 years old. I’d dip him in cranberry sauce and eat him all up! (For readers’ information, Clint currently clocks in at 81, so we’re going back a few years…)

OK, bit of a weird choice of men there, but let’s Christmas is a real humdinger for both of you this year. Have a good one, sexy ladies!

Employees in our waste industry in the UK have almost TWICE as many days off through sickness every years compared to workers in other sectors in a survey which is being conducted by the Health and Safety Laboratory (HSL).

The survey entitled, Work related ill health and sickness absence in the waste and recycling industry, is to last for three years with the final results due in 2013. The data is being collected from waste management companies and local authorities throughout the UK and covers 3,000 employees, about 2,000 of whom work for public sector employers.

The HSL’s sickness absence survey has found that each worker in the waste sector takes, on average, 12.3 days off per year due to sickness. The HSL has compared this to data collected by the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) which has found that the average UK employee only takes 6.4 days off sick per year.

Steven Naylor, senior scientist at HSL, explained that the high level of public sector employees in the waste industry was a contributing factor to the rate of sickness absence. “Rates of absences are traditionally higher in the public sector compared to the private sector,” he said.

Mr Naylor said more data would be available at the end of the three year survey allowing a better insight into why the rate of sickness absence is so much higher in the waste industry.

However, he noted that only a small percentage of sickness absence was due to work related illness. “Only 20% of the absences that workers take are due to work related problems.”

Stomach and digestion-related illnesses account for almost 20% of absences with a further 20% due to back problems. Mental health problems account for 5%.

In terms of actual roles within the waste sector, the survey has found so far that refuse collection workers had a higher rate of sickness absence than others in the sector with almost 15% taking off periods of 25 continuous days or more due to sickness. Mr Naylor added that again the high level of public sector employees in this part of the industry was the reason for this.

The survey is designed to help characterise the profile of ill health for specific work areas and to better understand the reasons for sickness absence in order to reduce it.

All participating companies receive a breakdown of the figures annually, rather than at the end of the full three years, allowing them to action any health and safety improvements as soon as possible.

A US man who accidentally threw his wife’s $10,000 (£6,000) engagement ring in the bin managed to find it after sifting through tons of rubbish at a local tip.

Brian McGuinn mistakenly dumped the sparkler along with his old razor blade.

His pregnant wife Anna had given him the ring while she was in the shower and because he had other rubbish in his hand he failed to notice the jewel.

He only realised what he had done after the rubbish had been collected from their house in Margate, Florida.

The couple ran out to try to find the bin men, only to find they had missed them by about 10 minutes.

Mrs McGuinn, 31, said: “The waterworks began. My husband looked on in horror.

“I felt absolutely devastated. I was shocked. I was crying. I felt helpless.”

She called a waste management company and was told her husband could search for the sparkler in the plant’s rubbish pile.

The financial adviser then wore a protective suit, and a worker directed him to the area where his area’s rubbish was dumped 10ft high.

Her husband said: “Nastiness you wouldn’t believe. It was absolutely disgusting. It stunk beyond belief.

“The smell was God-awful. Everything unsanitary you could think of crossed my path at least a couple (of) times.”

But after just 30 minutes of sifting through the garbage mountain, he struck lucky when he spotted a tiny glimmer surrounded by black sludge, wedged between two brown bags.

“It looked like a screw, and I reached down, and it looped around my index finger,” he told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.

“I was ecstatic. It was like winning the lottery. It was probably one of the best moments ever.”

He added: “I’m not in charge of the ring anymore.” His wife added: “Never”.

A city bar owner has slammed the attitude of highways officials after being left knee deep in rubble.

Justin Hudson, owner of Butlers in Gloucester, has been told he’s only allowed to have a skip on the road outside his pub for 20 minutes.

“I only want it there for one day but they have point blank refused,” he said. This leaves him at his wits end as he has a beer garden full of rubbish and rubble from a £200,000 refurbishment.

The bar has been given disabled facilities, more ladies loos, a bigger and better dancefloor, cloakroom and soundproofing as well as some necessary building work. “I’m doing something to boost business in Gloucester, to give people somewhere to go and enjoy themselves but they are stopping me at every turn.”

There are double yellow lines on the road and Mr Hudson said contractors have been given around nine tickets over the past few weeks.

But when it comes to having a skip outside, he said the council was even more unhelpful.

“I told him to give the skip a parking ticket and I’d pay the fine but we’re not getting anywhere. I’ve got a pile of rubble in the beer garden which I can’t move. That pile of rubbish is a fire hazard. I can’t believe how difficult it’s being made. It’s a ‘computer says no’ attitude,” he added.

“I’ve tried several skip companies to come down and see if the work can be done in 20 minutes but it’s just not possible. To do that, we’d have to block off the pavement and I don’t think that’s right. I’m not asking them to bend the rules, I’ll happy pay any fee or a fine.”

Nick Peters, Gloucestershire Highways manager, said: “We are quite happy for Mr Hudson to have a skip outside his pub, but because of the double yellow lines we have asked him to fill it and take the contents away immediately. We are keen to support local businesses but we have strict guidelines which must be adhered to for the safety of the public and motorists.”

A tool hire company is at its wit’s ends with constant flytipping around its premises.

The business is facing a “massive” problem, and it’s already cost them hundreds of pounds and is slowly damaging its image.

What’s more, it has been told the firm has to pay to get rid of the rubbish as it is on private land.

Speedy Hire, in the Enterprise Centre in Keighley said people had repeatedly dumped large amounts of household waste behind its property.

The debris has included beds, mattresses, garden furniture, sofas and dining tables.

Glynn Collins, branch manager at the tool hire depot, said fly-tipping had been an “on-off” problem for the eight years he had worked at the premises. But he said the illegal tipping had grown more frequent in the last two or three years.

“In February I got so sick of it I had a skip brought in so we could get rid of the rubbish and pay to have this done out of our own pocket,” he said. “It cost us £1,000. We’ve been told that even if Craven District Council’s waste management team gets the rubbish taken away, we’ll still have to pay for it. I’m gobsmacked.”

A spokesman for Craven District Council said: “When waste is illegally disposed of on private land, it is the responsibility of the landowner to remove it.

“The landowner needs to secure the land in order to deter people from disposing of their waste. We will always try and assist if evidence is gained and provide information on how to secure the land, but unfortunately we also have to ensure that the landlord correctly disposes of the waste too.”

Mr Collins said: “This is happening round the back of our unit, which is an access point and can be reached by vehicles. They’re obviously doing this after dark and it could be getting worse now that the nights are getting longer.

“It looks like this is someone who is running a business, who can’t have this stuff legally tipped.

“It’s a pet hate of mine and I’ve got fed- up now. It makes our company look bad and it also affects the other companies next to us. Recently there’s been new rubbish dumped here every night. The public needs to know what’s going on.

“It’s very frustrating as it seems those responsible can’t be caught. The council can only clean things up after the damage has been done.”