The Environmental Services Association has pledged to spread examples of good practice between its members and beyond its membership, in a bid to raise health and safety across the waste and recycling industry.
The ESA is an association that is working to transform waste and resource management in the UK, with the aim to turn Britain’s waste into valuable resources whilst protecting the environment.
The promises come after the Health and Safety Executive published a new report on data for the last financial year. The report showed that in 2016/2017, there were 14 fatal injuries. However improvements have been made as between the five years prior to this, there were 11 fatal injuries to the general public, of which there have been none in the past 24 months.
Furthermore, the association highlighted that their members have reduced injuries by 37% since 2014, and is now calling for the wider industry to follow suit. The Health and Safety Policy Advisor for ESA, Stephen Freeland, said that these stats are disappointing as they do not show the positive work members have been undertaking.
He reiterated the fact that the wider industry has a lot of work to do to continue to improve the health and safety of all workers and the general public. The report findings also show that within the waste sector, over 6,000 people suffered from a work-related illness each year over the past five years, with nine people struck by a moving vehicles, seven killed by contact with machinery and six dying after being struck by an object.
Acumen welcomes this continued support from the ESA to raising the health and safety standards across the industry and is commented to the highest levels of health and safety of our staff and the general public and continues to develop our procedures to ensure safety at all times.
Acumen offers complete waste management and industrial site services across England. For more information about our capabilities, please do not hesitate to get in touch with one of our team on 0800 118 2165.
