Chair of the Health and Safety Commission (HSC), Bill Callaghan has this month been promoting the guidance document "Waste and recycling vehicles in street collection." Since December 2005 there have been 6 reported fatalities involving reversing waste and recycling vehicles, a worrying trend that we first reported in the April Monthly Bulletin. Reversing causes a disproportionately large number of moving vehicle incidents, and the guidance outlines a set of measures aimed at reducing the number of fatalities involving collection staff and members of the public.
Bill Callaghan said, "the partnership between local authorities, the waste and recycling industry and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has produced a clear set of standards that will control these risks. The challenge now is for the industry to implement the controls and make sure that tragic incidents are prevented in the future."
This guidance can be downloaded from the HSEs website.
