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Man's pop-up urinal death may never be explained, family fears
BBC ^ | 02/09/2025 | Harry Low

Posted on 02/09/2025 2:37:53 PM PST by BenLurkin

The family of a man who was crushed to death in a freak accident fear they may never find out what caused the pop-up urinal he was working on to drop suddenly.

Maintenance engineer Kevin Holding, 60, was killed when working in Soho on 27 January 2023. His inquest heard it took two hours for a crane to arrive to lift the urinal off him.

Pop-up loos were introduced in central London in 2002 to discourage street urination. During the day, they are stored below the pavement and at night they rise hydraulically.

Mr Holding, from Beckenham in south-east London, became trapped underneath the telescopic urinal, which dropped on him while he was working on the device, his inquest was told.

The work he was doing was being carried out on behalf of Westminster City Council, which expressed "its deepest sympathies for Kevin Holding's family and friends".

(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.com ...


TOPICS: Miscellaneous
KEYWORDS: urinal
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1 posted on 02/09/2025 2:37:53 PM PST by BenLurkin
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To: BenLurkin

They couldn’t design it like an elevator, to stop if it dropped a few inches?


2 posted on 02/09/2025 2:39:54 PM PST by Jonty30 (Groundhogs don't falsify their predictions for grant money, whereas climate scientists do. )
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To: BenLurkin

So, at night, you resort to street urination?


3 posted on 02/09/2025 2:40:30 PM PST by caver ( )
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To: BenLurkin

As we said in college a long time ago, “that’s a pisser.”


4 posted on 02/09/2025 2:45:36 PM PST by ProtectOurFreedom (They were the FA-est of times, they were the FO-est of times.)
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To: caver

5 posted on 02/09/2025 2:48:55 PM PST by gundog (The ends justify the mean tweets. )
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To: BenLurkin

He had an “Oh shit!” moment

Solved...


6 posted on 02/09/2025 2:49:22 PM PST by Vendome (I've Gotta Be Me https://youtu.be/wH-pk2vZG2M)
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To: ProtectOurFreedom

Gives new meaning to the British term “take the piss”.


7 posted on 02/09/2025 2:49:40 PM PST by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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To: BenLurkin
In Amsterdam they just had n open pipe on the street corner that people would walk up to an piss in.

I really had to laugh at a beer festival I attended in Brussels. They had a four sided (four guys could piss at the same time) totally open, setting directly under the street light in the middle of the intersection.


8 posted on 02/09/2025 2:49:41 PM PST by tired&retired (Blessings )
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To: BenLurkin

A work related death so bizarre, so unclean, that the family may have considered using a simple made up story to explain it. “The ceiling collapsed on him inside of a building where he was making repairs. That’s all I know.”


9 posted on 02/09/2025 2:49:41 PM PST by lee martell
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To: Jonty30

I’m sure a simple sleeve around the hydraulic actuator would have saved him.


10 posted on 02/09/2025 2:50:48 PM PST by gundog (The ends justify the mean tweets. )
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To: tired&retired

Do they accommodate women for this procedure?

What if they have a need for number 2? What then?


11 posted on 02/09/2025 2:52:55 PM PST by Dilbert San Diego
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To: tired&retired
Amsterdam has now renovated from their single open pipe. This is one of the retractable urinals on a street corner.


12 posted on 02/09/2025 2:53:34 PM PST by tired&retired (Blessings )
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To: BenLurkin; Red Badger; gymbeau

Maybe he felt a bit flushed?


13 posted on 02/09/2025 2:53:37 PM PST by Cletus.D.Yokel (Catastrophic Anthropogenic Climate Alteration; The acronym defines the science.)
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To: BenLurkin

His inquest heard it took two hours for a crane to arrive to lift the urinal off him.

I suspect he was dead the moment the loo dropped on him, so why would it matter how long it would take for the crane to arrive.

They report this like it is expected cranes are sitting around like fire trucks waiting to respond to emergencies. The question I have is were they looking for a method that would not damage the loo?


14 posted on 02/09/2025 2:54:02 PM PST by Steven Scharf
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To: BenLurkin

where will you
meet your water loo


15 posted on 02/09/2025 2:56:58 PM PST by ArtDodger
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To: BenLurkin

> During the day, they are stored below the pavement and at night they rise hydraulically.

What’s the mystery? Obviously, he died from a tragic, crushing case of erectile dysfunction.


16 posted on 02/09/2025 2:57:07 PM PST by Flatus I. Maximus
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To: Dilbert San Diego

Exactly.


17 posted on 02/09/2025 2:59:37 PM PST by No name given ( Anonymous is who you’ll know me as)
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To: tired&retired
Mind your Ps: Amsterdam installs plant pot street urinals to improve toilet manners.

‘If you want a solution to wild peeing, cities try to create ownership and a feeling that someone is watching you,’ he said. ‘That works, but the need for peeing stays. We came up with the idea of a planter to help green the city, have something that looks nicer, but is also a urinal. It’s also circular as we make fertilizer from the urine and also green water.’

Four models were temporarily placed in and around the Rembrandtsplein last year, and an independent study suggested that in one street, the Schapensteeg, public urination decreased by 49%.

‘A study showed that GreenPees don’t create smell problems, and we will monitor whether that continues to be the case,’ said Amsterdam city in a press release. ‘The new GreenPees have also been further developed…and improved in terms of sustainability, user privacy, recognition and discoverability.’


18 posted on 02/09/2025 2:59:45 PM PST by tired&retired (Blessings )
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To: BenLurkin

Might want to find the explanation so it doesn’t happen again.


19 posted on 02/09/2025 2:59:49 PM PST by bigcat32
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To: BenLurkin

My bet is that the worker skipped a safety step. Like a lockout or a mechanical stop that should have been in place before venturing underneath the pisser.


20 posted on 02/09/2025 3:06:10 PM PST by HP8753 (Live Free!!!! .............or don't. )
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