Why can the grit box kill me?

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schoolme_straying@reddit

It's a trick photo - it is not a grit box. It's a sharps box. Probably placed somewhere adjacent intravenous drug users.

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drpandamania@reddit

Because drug users might use it as a bin for their used needles, so don’t go digging around in there for a handful of grit.

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This is the reason, everyone else is just making stuff up. Grit boxes don't usually have these kinds of warning, presumably the one in this specification has a problem with junkies throwing needles in there.

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smith9447@reddit

As a local street watch participant I can confirm we often find used needles and other drug paraphernalia in grit bins.

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thetoastmonster@reddit

All I found in ours over the winter, in addition to the salt, was spiders and rubbish.

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Catface2069@reddit

I read this ‘as a local street witch’ and rushed to ask how I apply to be a local street witch, then I reread it and realised I need to stop trying to read without my glasses on

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pstrib@reddit

Nothing stopping you from just being a local street witch anyway, just need an old broom and to get adopted by a black cat (or just use some paint if you have an existing cat in the wrong colour /s)

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Catface2069@reddit

I already have 2 black cats, no broom but I do have a Shark hoover — close enough?

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JakeN961@reddit

Yeahhhh that's just the ev version isn't it?

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Catface2069@reddit

Yeah but not as good as far as noise levels are concerned. Can’t be surreptitious about your witchery when you’re riding a hoover you know

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jamesckelsall@reddit

I do have a Shark hoover

I hope it's a battery version - otherwise you'll need one hell of an extension lead.

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Catface2069@reddit

It is not battery powered, no 🙂

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phatboi23@reddit

modern version isn't it? haha

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xmastreee@reddit

Can't blame them, it kinda looks like a sharps bin.

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Ch1pp@reddit

Can kind of blame them for not actually getting a sharps bin.

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phatboi23@reddit

yup, a pharmacy/doctors will give you one no questions asked.

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Mammoth_Spend_5590@reddit

Yeah because a homeless person can carry around a sharps bin and all their worldy goods

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phatboi23@reddit

they aren't that big. can go in the side pocket of a backpack pretty easily.

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Mammoth_Spend_5590@reddit

It's the assumption that homeless people can just go get a sharps bin, and keep all their possessions safe. Homeless people are over 375% more likely to become victims of theft on top of all the other struggles and suffering that comes with being homeless and persecuted.

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Overseerer-Vault-101@reddit

As annoying as it is, rather in there than actually on the street.

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g0_west@reddit

They'll get strewn around the streets next time it snows

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Derren_Browns_Parrot@reddit

Thank you for your service 🫡

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worotan@reddit

Why don’t they put a sharps sticker on there, so that people know what the danger is? Because if you don’t know that, it just looks silly.

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jamesckelsall@reddit

Why don’t they put a sharps sticker on there

Because that could encourage more people to use it as a sharps bin.

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grumpyhat42@reddit

It kinda looks like a giant sharps bin?

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No_Base4946@reddit

That's why there's a picture of a syringe on the sticker.

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celebgil@reddit

I don't have my glasses on, and I thought it was the Sword of Damocles 🤣

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FoursRed@reddit

This area is clearly in need of a Sword of Damocles exchange program

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phatboi23@reddit

yup, druggies are bastards for chucking their needles in shitty places.

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NaNsoul@reddit

Must be using some huge needles based on the graphic

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Keyser_Kaiser_Soze@reddit

TIL that some countries keep local stores of salt/sand in unlocked boxes called grit box.

Which now makes a Brit Box subscription just a little more adorable.

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Not_Depressed_zzz@reddit

If you climb in, like some homeless people do through winter thinking it will keep them warm.. Then the lid freezes over, and they die possibly

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KlausesFriend@reddit

From Chat GPT

It’s almost certainly a joke or unofficial sticker rather than a real UK safety sign 😄

The image shows a syringe above a person with the words “Danger of Death.” On a grit/salt box, it’s likely someone has stuck it on as dark humour or graffiti-style commentary about discarded needles or drug use.

Real UK hazard signage follows very specific standards under ISO/BS regulations and would normally use:

clear official pictograms,
standard wording,
identifiable hazard colours/shapes,
and usually reference an actual risk (electricity, chemicals, confined space, etc.).

A council grit box would normally only have labels about salt, slipping hazards, or council ownership. There’s no recognised UK hazard symbol for “death by syringe” like this.

So: not an official warning — just someone being provocative.

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oscarx-ray@reddit

Two-year-old found in grit bin after going missing at nursery

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definitelynotanarc17@reddit

My partner's brother once slept off a sesh in a grit bin when he was too drunk to drive home. He emerged out of the bin in the morning looking like a salty Worzel Gummidge to the delight of the park and ride commuters.

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oscarx-ray@reddit

Are you a two year-old with a penchant for hide-and-seek?

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therealhairykrishna@reddit

and eating grit, judging by the elevated salt levels

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returnONE@reddit

and If they had to put a graveyard next to it it must be dangerous

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caffeine_lights@reddit

Taking a guess from the needle on the picture, I think it's saying it's specifically a risk to addicts who use it as a place to shoot up (shelter from rain/wind) because they are hard to open from the inside especially presumably if you're in an impaired state, so you could get trapped in there.

If it was danger from potentially discarded needles then it should say that. The danger I am aware of with boxes like this is the entrapment risk.

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bextacyyyyyyy@reddit

If you eat it ???

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Fidgie0@reddit

It might be a mimic.

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ambientfruit@reddit

This made me laugh way way harder than it had any right to.

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Cela111@reddit

You laughed, I laughed, the grit bin laughed, we killed the grit bin. It was a good time.

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ambientfruit@reddit

Levelled up too. Worth taking 4d6 damage.

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CR0SBO@reddit

Crummy loot

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stoufferthecat@reddit

And the mimic got charged with a salt.

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Hellstorm901@reddit

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ForteanApe@reddit

ROFL!

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Whoosholliander@reddit

😄 It most definitely is.

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RESPEKMA_AUTHORITAH@reddit

Smack it first before opening it

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Unlikely_Plane_5050@reddit

Or look which direction the chain goes

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nickllhill@reddit

Title of your sex tape

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beetrootfarmer@reddit

Damn, came here to say the same thing.

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fromwithin@reddit

You need to view by New to get in fast enough.

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Balabanovo@reddit

Ah, balls. Me too! I'll let you explain our hilarious in-joke for the numpties who won't understand...

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colin_staples@reddit

As a numpty... erm... thank you?

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Clearlydarkly@reddit

You can be one of the Ten Thousand!!

Join us!!

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colin_staples@reddit

There's always a xkcd

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Life_Is_A_Mistry@reddit

It's the idea in fantasy fiction of monsters pretending to be treasure chests to trap greedy/unsuspecting adventurers. See for example, Frieren: https://youtu.be/4x2CEUeGty0

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HarmfulGorgon99@reddit

It's salty you could get dehydrated

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dr_wtf@reddit

It's just a constant reminder of your mortality, not referring to anything specific.

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TepacheLoco@reddit

Lots of odd answers. I presume it's because people might be leaving used needles in grit bins.

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drpandamania@reddit

Yes. The fact there’s a picture of a needle is a bit of a clue, I think.

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vipros42@reddit

I assumed somehow the grit bin presented a similar threat to the sword of Damocles based on the thumbnail. Good to have that cleared up.

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Reverend_Vader@reddit

Took me a while because you have to be one hell of an unlucky mofo to die from a needle stick injury

At least for the years the Heps/HIV/Tetanus take if it all goes wrong.

My boss got one and nobody on the planet takes longer to explain every detail of something you neither need or want to know, than he does.

At a cemetery, that sign would freak out any vampires.

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Not_Sugden@reddit

surely it should be death or serious injury then? I consented to risk death not a disease!

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Bastrato@reddit

Try eating 1kg of the grit.

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Hellstorm901@reddit

Is there a chain next to it?

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No_Ring_3348@reddit

in Scotland

outside a graveyard

Sharps bin, 100%

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stoufferthecat@reddit

I prefer Doom Bar, 4.3%, myself

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L-0-T-H-0-S@reddit

Its toxic. Grit is a mixture of rock salt and sand. Rock salt is highly toxic to dogs and cats. If a dog walks through grit and then licks its paws, it can ingest large amounts, causing kidney failure, pancreatic issues, liver failure, and potentially death.

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dingledorb@reddit

Yes they made sure to use a readable font so both dogs and cats are warned.

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FantasticMrPox@reddit

Yes, the top comment would be absolute unsubstantiated horeshit if it weren't for the legibility . Thank goodness for that.

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BeardySam@reddit

You wot?

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Eayauapa@reddit

Rock salt is not highly toxic to dogs, yeah sure they shouldn't be eating loads of it, but an occasional lick of salt provided they have access to water isn't going to kill them.

It's like how people shouldn't be eating spoonfuls of salt, but a bit is fine. It's not like they're gritting the roads with cyanide.

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JadedSignificance990@reddit

It's got a gun.

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asphaltOnline@reddit

Might you be a slug?

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mudlouse@reddit

Heightened risk of being assalted

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PuppyGirlRya@reddit

It'll asalt you!

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salakane@reddit

I never saw these when i grew up south of the Mason Dixon, but i am completely in favor of putting all grits in a bin

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owenski6@reddit

Risk of a salt

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thefudgeguzzler@reddit

Are you a slug?

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wookiewithabrush@reddit

The needle graphic suggests there may be biohazards within, possibly hidden used needles.

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Electronic_Truck_84@reddit

It's if you eat the entire contents

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FunnyVehicle7664@reddit

It literally tells you on the symbol

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SeaworthinessTop7704@reddit

I got bitten by an evil mouse, hidding in one of those.

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Leading-Ad-7396@reddit

If it’s like the salt box in my old area growing up it’s got tonnes of shit in it, people shit and bags of dog shit. (I say people shit, I didn’t test it or anything, but some of them were pretty fat turds)

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Dazzling-Command7721@reddit

Head first into a grit box is bad on many levels...!!!

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capngamandstuff@reddit

No, but the giant needle hovering above it in the sky could fall and kill you.

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AtmosphereSea6923@reddit

When I was younger I was on my paper round and I was that busy reading the daily sport ( well looking at all the tits) I didn’t see the grit box and went head over arse flat on my face rolling around with a copy of the sport strewn all over the pavement. Ha ha

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Own-Jeweler3169@reddit

You may be asSALTed.

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Fit-Inevitable8562@reddit

You eat a tablespoon a day

You see your GP.Hypertension.

You keep going back to your nummy salty nibbles.

15 years later.BAM. Massive Heart Attack.

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GoodTato@reddit

evil grit

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Aggressive_Cream_188@reddit

Why so many repeat themes in the comments?

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Specialist_Shake2425@reddit

I read a story about how a man accidentally killed himself with a clothes airer, so anything's possible.

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Icy-Belt-8519@reddit

Drunk people using the 'salt' for their kebabs? 🤷‍♂️

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Geezso@reddit

Looks like a sharps box. Dont touch those needles.

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jolly_waffles_real@reddit

Are you kidding me? Have you never seen a public grit box in your area?

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DTH2001@reddit

outside a graveyard in Scotland

It’s a sharps box now

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Geezso@reddit

The warning sign has a needle. Im gonna go with that. In other applications it may be used for ice control, but thats a warning sign.

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IvyFernMoss@reddit

If it is about sharps then the council are roughly 30 years behind in terms of medical advances. Hepatitis: curable. HIV: can be treated with one pill a day so that the viral load is so low that it's undetectable in tests & therefore untransmissable (U=U).

Don't get me wrong: I don't want either, but this is scaremongering and they also need sharps bins so there is somewhere to dispose of the needles.

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HobbityBobbity123@reddit

scaremongering is a perfectly valid tool when trying to prevent serious diseases

"Dont touch this or theres a chance you will require medical attention every day for the rest of your life" doesnt have quite as much of a good ring to it

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MadJohnFinn@reddit

"This is just scaremongering because you'll only have to take a pill for a day for the rest of your life" is quite a take, even if you got to the right conclusion (the council need to provide better sharp disposal solutions).

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Neddlings55@reddit

I would assume it referring to the contents.

Dont inject road salt.

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happyanathema@reddit

Everyone knows you smoke salt... Duh

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Ecstatic_Effective42@reddit

Surely it cures COVID? /s

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Shoddy_Story_3514@reddit

https://bbc.com/news/articles/c8j32wpxxero

Simple answer is because if you somehow become trapped inside its a possibility due to absorbing the salt to toxic levels.

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snavej1@reddit

Some people sit on grit boxes but the plastic can't support their weight. The sitters break the plastic accidentally and might be injured by the shards. Also, eating large amounts of salty grit can kill you.

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Zaruz@reddit

May be that it can't be opened from the inside, so a risk of children climbing in to hide and getting stuck. Does like this one is too small for that to really be a concern, but probably just erring on the side of caution.

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GreenCup3426@reddit

Funnily enough, as soon as I saw this post come up on my main feed I immediately thought of a colleague of mine who once told us about getting stuck in a grit bin as a child whilst playing hide and seek. They were found quite quickly and had no lasting damage, but it was apparently very hard to breathe in there and for a while afterwards their skin was super dry and their hair was brittle. It basically dessicated them.

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