Moray Council has become the first local authority resource management team in Scotland to sign up to a national commitment to prioritise health and safety, Zero Waste Scotland (ZWS) announced today (14th December).

The Scottish Resource Sector Commitment, managed by ZWS, is a ‘kite mark’ for quality in the waste and resources sector, backed by the Scottish Government. It is a voluntary agreement, open to any organisation involved in providing waste or resource management services to commercial customers in Scotland.

In June this year the scheme was expanded to include excellence in health and safety. By signing up to the second phase of the commitment, Moray Council agrees to go beyond simply meeting its own health and safety requirements: identifying any potential problems, updating corporate information developing employee and driver guide, and arranging health checks for all staff with the local NHS.

Over 20 businesses are already signed up to the first phase: a commitment to good customer service. The first phase of the commitment asks organisations to pledge to:

• provide customers with high quality recycling services, which are supported by clear communications, and which are consistent with legal requirements and good practice;
• implement systems for gaining customer feedback ensuring continuous improvement; and
• ensure contracts and charging structures are clear, reasonable and well managed.

Moray was also the first local authority to sign up to the customer service phase of the commitment.

Resource management industry needs to ‘drive up standards’

Commenting on the health and safety commitment’s first signatory, Scottish Environment Secretary Richard Lochhead said: “I’d like to congratulate Moray Council, my own local authority, on being the first commercial resource management team in Scotland to sign up to the Scottish Resource Sector Commitment health and safety standard, having already taken the positive step of signing up to the customer service element earlier this year.

“Health and safety is clearly an essential issue for the resource management industry and I’m delighted to see Moray taking such a proactive approach.

“In addition, over half of Scotland’s waste comes from businesses. In order to continue to increase recycling in Scotland, and support business in dealing responsibly with its waste, we need to drive up standards in the resource management industry to ensure customer confidence and the accessibility of high quality services. A commitment to excellence in health and safety is a particularly important step to take.”

Scotland’s ‘programme of continual improvement’

Iain Gulland, Chief Executive of Zero Waste Scotland, added: “The Scottish Resource Sector Commitment’s health and safety standard shows a commitment above and beyond the health and safety policies which all organisations should have.

“Moray Council is aiming to be an excellent example of this, with its resource management team getting onto the front foot with regard to the critical issue of health and safety, identifying potential issues and aiming to prevent them, including taking action to monitor the health of employees. I commend the team for their work and look forward to other resource management businesses making the commitment.”

“Zero Waste Scotland works with the resource management industry across Scotland on a programme of continual improvement and we are committed to keeping standards high. A professional resources management sector is essential for us nationally to harness Scotland’s resources in a useful way, not simply disposing of them as waste.”

In response to the new standard, Councillor John Cowe, Chair of Moray Council’s Economic Development and Infrastructure Committee said: “Safety is vitally important within all workplaces, and especially so within the waste sector. To achieve this on the back of a recent successful Health and Safety Executive inspection is valued recognition of the hard work of everyone within the waste section.

“Not only are we amongst the leading authorities for our recycling performance, we now have formal recognition from within the industry that our safety systems are effective.”

Learn more about the Scottish Resource Sector Commitment at Zero Waste Scotland’s website.