Guidance Issued by HSE on Improving Safety in Recycling Industry
New guidance has been issued by the HSE to the Local Authorities in order to deal with the poor health and safety record of the waste and recycling industry. The industry faces a high injury and death rate as compared to other industries. The national average of fatal accidents is nine times lower than that of this industry in particular.
In order to make the Local Authorities more responsible and accountable the HSE has instructed them to be more careful while dealing with the management of waste and obtaining contractual services. It has also stated that the Local Authorities are responsible for the health and safety of the contractor even after the contract was serviced out to them.
The new guidance is being made available online so that the Local Authorities have easy access to it. The prime focus of the guidance is to reduce the number of injuries and deaths caused by accidents in the recycling industry.
In order to promote this initiative, the HSE would be organizing events that would give the Local Authorities exposure to new procedures and available management solutions. LAs would be encouraged to share their experiences at these events so that they can learn from each other.
The HSE also stated that later in the year, inspections of the LAs’ waste management departments would be conducted and suggestions would be made to help them improve their working relationship between vendors and contractors.
Judith Hackitt, who is the HSE chair, spoke at the first event that was organized recently and urged the LAs to ensure that safety and health of the contractors was their prime focus while managing waste recycling.
The HSE has taken this initiative to make the Local Authorities accountable for their actions and to improve the health and safety standards maintained in this industry.
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