Mapping health and safety standards in the UK waste industry, a report of a research project carried out by Bomel Limited for HSE shows that, in 2001-02:
The data also showed that three quarters of the incidents predominantly occurred to refuse/recycling collection workers who manually handle and sort waste. Recent statistics have shown that the Bomel research findings are still applicable some 10 years later.
The most recent statistics for reported injuries to employees in the waste management and recycling* industry are:
| 2009/2010 | 2010/2011p | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Incidence | Rate per 100,000 | Incidence | Rate per 100,000 | All industry rate per 100,000 | Comparison between W&R and all industry rates | |
| Fatal injuries | 3 | 2.3 | 10 | 8.4 | 0.5 | x 16.8 |
| Major injuries | 511 | 390 | 483 | 405 | 99 | x 4.1 |
| Over 3-day injuries | 2089 | 1595 | 1954 | 1637 | 363 | x 4.5 |
| All injuries | 2603 | 1988 | 2447 | 2050 | 462 | x 4.4 |
* The above statistics are based on waste and recycling activities as defined by SIC 2007 two digit code 38 (waste collection, treatment and disposal and SIC 46.77 (wholesale waste and scrap). The majority of incidents fall into SIC 38. They do not account for Local Authority incidents that may be incorrectly coded (e.g. against SIC 84 public administration) or remediation activities (SIC 39) and other waste management services such as street cleaning.
Further analysis of the latest statistics for 2010/2011 illustrate that there is still a stark difference between waste and recycling and the all industry incident rates. This continued poor performance relative to other industries illustrates why waste management and recycling is regarded as a priority industry sector within HSE.
Over the last 10 years there have also been 18 fatal accidents (approximates to 2 in every year) to members of the public, most of which were associated with vehicles involved in waste collection activities.
| Kind | Examples | Percentage (%) |
|---|---|---|
| Handling |
|
41 |
| Slips and trips | Vehicle access, egress, street environments, picking platforms, fixed plant maintenance (e.g.at MeRFs or waste transfer stations) | 26 |
| Hit by fixed or moving object | During waste collections or at recycling facilities | 16 |
| Falls | Sheeting and unsheeting of vehicles, undertaking maintenance work at height | 6 |
| Workplace transport ‘hit by moving vehicle’ Most of the major and fatal accidents are in this category |
|
4 |
| Machinery | Access to moving parts during cleaning, maintenance and repair of machinery; failure to isolate | 3 |
| Other | e.g. electricity, fire, explosion, exposed to harmful substance | 5 |
Collection activities account for the majority (75 to 80%) of accidents within the industry. Particular safety and health areas that should be considered are:-
Statistical data on health issues within the waste and recycling industry is currently unreliable, and research into this area continues. The main health concerns include:
Research published in 2009 by the Health and Safety Laboratory (HSL) indicated high rates of sickness absence across the waste management and recycling industry. HSE has commissioned the Health and Safety Laboratory (HSL) to carry out a further but more extensive nationwide survey of sickness absence across the industry in 2010-12.
The results of the survey will help identify activities where rates of sickness absence are particularly high enabling HSE and the industry to better target future initiatives.
On 1 January 2008, the recording of data commenced using the new Standard Industrial Classification coding (SIC 2007). SIC 2007 improves the production and reliability of accident and ill-health statistics since many waste and recycling activities are allocated their own codes. RIDDOR data for the industry prior to April 2010 was coded using SIC2003. In the waste management and recycling statistics the data has been computer recoded to the SIC2007 coding to allow comparisons over time. There may be errors as a result of this recoding.
Also, the employment data used to produce RIDDOR injury rates has changed to the Annual Population Survey (APS,) which is part of the Labour Force survey. This source produces lower employment estimates than previously used which in turn result in some higher incident rates than previously reported.
