Chantal Nicholls is HM Principal Inspector of Health and Safety

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has recently released statistics that show the waste and recycling industry remains among the most dangerous in Britain for workers. The number of deaths and injuries remains stubbornly high, with accident rates for all injuries and fatal injuries standing four and nine times higher than the average for other industries. As a result, waste and recycling remains a priority for HSE.

With the release of these latest statistics, it seems a good time to tell Resource readers about some of the ongoing and planned initiatives HSE is involved with, often in partnership with industry. Together we are trying to improve safety, and with good reason – we saw six fatal injuries, 553 major injuries and 3,130 reported non-fatal injuries in 2011/12 alone.

In 2010 HSE launched the strategy ‘The Health and Safety of Great Britain – Be Part of the Solution’, which provided the overall framework for maintaining and improving safety performance in this country. It set out how all stakeholders must understand their roles and how to discharge their responsibilities.

HSE and those in waste and recycling have since developed a specific sector strategy. This incorporates elements of the existing Waste Industry Safety and Health (WISH) forum strategy, and sets out goals that – if met – would improve the industry’s record.

In February 2013, HSE will host a summit in partnership with the WISH forum. It will see invited representatives from across the industry come together with professional associations and trade unions among others. The theme will be ‘Delivering the Solution Together’ and we’ll be taking the opportunity to discuss the key challenges facing the industry and explore together how best to tackle poor health and safety performance and drive long-term improvements.

Delegates will hear about case studies and take part in workshops reflecting five key strategy themes: leadership; worker involvement; competence; creating healthier, safer workplaces; and customising support for SMEs. We hope the event will reinvigorate industry commitment and generate action to address the situation. It is only by the industry taking the lead that we can hope to reduce the unacceptable numbers of people not returning home after a day’s work.

To complement our partnership work with the industry, HSE is carrying out inspections targeting particular processes or activities that are of concern (hotspots inspections) or clients and major employers (e.g. local authorities and selected private contractor companies). We are looking to maximise our impact through using our influence along the supply chain.
For example, we know that collection activities account for over 70 per cent of accidents in the industry, with most associated with household/municipal work. Councils have a key role in delivering such services and HSE has published online guidance to help them comply with their health and safety duties, whether they deliver services in-house or contract out.

What’s more, we have been carrying out an extensive inspection initiative with all 407 local authorities in England, Scotland and Wales. This started in October 2010 and is due to end in October 2013. Interim results indicate that nearly one fifth of councils are not following health and safety guidelines in respect of procurement and management of service delivery.

We also have ongoing long-term inspection interventions with 15 leading waste management companies, known as the national lead inspector approach. We recently brought key representatives of the companies together for a workshop to discuss the inspection arrangements. It also allowed them to share with us their thoughts on key issues and concerns, and allowed us to encourage sharing of best practice.

Our hotspots work over the last few years has focused on scrap yards, skip hire and WEEE recycling processes. This year, we are inspecting processes across the industry, targeting those sites where previous visits found poor conditions or sites that have never been visited or not been visited within the last three years.

Neither the HSE nor industry can be complacent, or in any doubt that there remains a lot of hard work ahead if the accidents rates are going to be brought down in line with other industries.