An Ontario-based manufacturer of clothing donation bins has ceased production of a particular model following deaths in Toronto and West Vancouver.
Rangeview Fabricating Inc., a Hamilton, Ont. company that supplies bins to charities across North America, said it stopped manufacturing one of its models after a man was found unconscious near Ambleside Park late last month.
The 34-year-old had gotten stuck in the bin's opening, and did not survive his injuries.
Just over a week later, a woman died Tuesday after being found trapped in a similar box in Toronto's Bloorcourt Village neighbourhood.
Rangeview told CTV News it’s no longer producing the model in which the people were trapped. In light of the Toronto incident, the company said it’ll be sending a video to all the charities that use its donation bins to show them how to cut the metal bars that cause the doors to pinch.
The company said the bars, which were built in to prevent thefts, are the reason people get stuck in the chutes.
A spokesperson told CTV they plan to work with students at the University of British Columbia to come up with a new prototype which will ensure public safety.
In the fall, a UBC professor challenged his first-year engineering students to redesign the problematic bins.
Speaking after the death in West Van earlier this year, he said he now wants to retrofit existing bins so no one else gets injured.
"At this time, we have to move forward; we have to put all our efforts together to solve this problem," Ray Taheri said last week.
He told CTV he plans to form a task force and gather all existing designs in one place so that his team can quickly find a way to modify them.
The City of Vancouver, District of West Vancouver and some non-profit organizations that operate locally have announced they'll be removing their bins until a solution has been found.
With files from CTV Toronto's Scott Lightfoot and CTV Vancouver's David Molko
