Archived press release

Date Published: 07/01/08

Refuse operatives working for councils in Aylesbury Vale and South Northamptonshire star in a new DVD aimed at improving standards in health and safety for waste services teams across the country. The health and safety training DVD, entitled &lsq...

Refuse operatives working for councils in Aylesbury Vale and South Northamptonshire star in a new DVD aimed at improving standards in health and safety for waste services teams across the country.

The health and safety training DVD, entitled ‘Working Safely in Refuse and Recycling’, features waste collection crews from Aylesbury Vale District Council and South Northamptonshire Council in real working situations.

The crews are shown in a number of short ‘tool box talks’ that provide health and safety advice to other teams who work in the waste collection industry.

The DVD, produced by No Going Back Productions, has been designed to be used during induction training or as refresher training for crews and team leaders across the country.

Topics covered include hazards, manual handling, accidents, first aid and health, violence and aggression and vehicle operations. Each of the 11 topics is accompanied by a short questionnaire to check understanding.

Incidents rates in the waste industry are higher than those in construction according to research published by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). A report of a research project carried out by Bomel Limited for the HSE shows that the number of fatal incidents are over ten times the national average, while accident rates are four times the average. The incidents predominantly occur to refuse/recycling collection workers who manually handle and sort waste.

Councillor Sir Beville Stanier, Cabinet Member for Environment and Health at AVDC, said: “We are very pleased that our waste collection crews are featured in this new health and safety training DVD. AVDC gives top priority to the health and safety of all its staff and we have a consistent and robust approach to safety management. We hope that by raising awareness of health and safety issues in this way that we can help reduce the number of accidents that occur in the UK waste industry.”
 
Councillor Andrew Grant, Cabinet Member for the Environment at South Northamptonshire Council, said: “Of course, the safety of our employees is vitally important and we are very pleased to be able to share the expertise we have gained through years of good health and safety practice. Everyone involved in the production of it is really proud of the result and we’d like to thank the crews that took part for their time, effort and star qualities!”