Every year, a significant proportion of serious and sometimes fatal accidents in waste and recycling result from poorly guarded work equipment or its improper use. Examples include unsafe interventions such as clearing blockages, maintenance or carrying out repairs when machinery is running.
To prevent and reduce the risk of serious or fatal injury adequate arrangements and systems of work are required. This page explains those legal requirements and how you can reduce the risks of machinery accidents.
PUWER Regulations
The Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations (PUWER) require equipment provided for use at work to be:
- suitable for the intended use
- safe for use
- maintained in a safe condition and, in certain circumstances, inspected to ensure this remains the case
- used only by people who have received adequate information, instruction and training
- accompanied by suitable safety measures, such as protective devices, markings or warnings
LOLER Regulations
The Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations (LOLER) require that lifting equipment provided for use at work is:
- strong and stable enough for the particular use
- marked to indicate safe loading loads
- positioned and installed to minimise any risks
- used safely (the work is planned, organised and performed by competent people)
- subject to ongoing through examination and, where appropriate, inspection by competent people
When LOLER applies to waste and recycling equipment
LOLER applies to lifting equipment provided for use as work equipment. Lifting equipment comprises any machinery used for lifting and lowering loads, and includes any supports or anchoring fixtures. It also applies to lifting accessories, which are pieces of equipment used to attach the load to lifting equipment and providing a link between the two.
LOLER requires lifting equipment and accessories to be marked with the safe working load and/or a working load limit and be subject to statutory periodic 'thorough examination'. Equipment capable of lifting people should be thoroughly examined every 6 months.
Records must be kept of all thorough examinations and any defects found must be reported to the person responsible for the equipment. If the defect is (or could become) a danger to people, then the relevant enforcing authority must also be notified. In addition, all work equipment will require maintenance under PUWER regardless of whether it needs a thorough examination under LOLER.
The following table has examples of how and when LOLER thorough examinations apply to plant and equipment commonly used within the waste and recycling industry.
| Type of plant or equipment | Thorough examination required | Maximum frequency |
|---|---|---|
| Bottle/trolley jacks | Yes | 12 months |
| Cranes | Yes | 12 months (accessories - 6 months) |
| Depollution rig (automatic type that physically lifts vehicles) | Yes | 12 months 6 months if people are lifted in vehicle |
| Depollution rig (static type where vehicles are lifted onto it using other equipment) | No | But equipment used to lift vehicle should be thoroughly examined |
| Forklift trucks | Yes | 12 months |
| High-lift cabs | Yes | 6 months |
| Hookloaders (including roll-on roll-off) | Yes | 12 months |
| Hoist wires (attached to bottle bank etc) | No | N/A |
| Material handlers (such as 360-degree excavators) permanently fitted with grabs, forks, magnets etc | Yes | 12 months |
| Material handlers (such as 360-degree excavators) fitted with detachable grabs, forks or magnets etc | Yes | Handler - 12 months Detachable accessories - 6 months |
| Refuse collection vehicles hoisting mechanisms | Yes | 1 month |
| Shovel loaders (with bucket) | No | N/A |
| Shovel loaders (with lifting attachments) | Yes | Loader - 12 months (attachments if detachable - 6 months) |
| Skips/containers | No | LOLER doesn’t apply but inspections required by PUWER Reg 6 |
| Skip loaders | Yes | 12 months accessories - 6 months |
| Two/four-post vehicle lift | Yes | 12 months (6 months if people are lifted in the vehicle) |
| Telehandler | Yes | 12 months |
Find out more
Transport-related lifting operations in waste management
How you can reduce the risks
Use the right equipment for the job
Many accidents happen because people have not chosen the right equipment for the work to be done. Controlling the risk often means planning ahead and ensuring suitable equipment or machinery is available.
HSE’s guidance on buying new machinery explains the legal duties and provides some information on what to do for anyone buying new machinery for use at work.
Those who hire out work equipment are responsible for ensuring it is safe to use at the point of hire. The hirer should also make reasonable attempts to find out what the equipment will be used for and provide advice on how it should be used. The safe use of the equipment is the responsibility of the person who hires it.
There is more information on buying and hiring equipment in HSE’s webpages on equipment and machinery.
Preventative actions
Make sure you assess the risks from work activities and introduce (and maintain) safe systems of work for all the machinery in use. Useful information on safe systems of work for the use of balers and compactors can be found in guidance for the recovered paper industry. The underlying principles of this guidance can be applied to other machinery used in the waste and recycling industry (such as conveyors, shredders, trommels).
Ensure all fixed guards are in place (and replaced after removal), and secured to ensure access to moving parts is not possible when the machine is in operation.
During cleaning, repair or maintenance activities inadvertent powered movement can be prevented by securely isolating the plant from power sources. This is usually the electricity supply, but it can also involve hydraulic and pneumatic power, and take into account the dissipation of stored energy if applicable. Security ('lock off') can be provided by padlocks on electrical isolator switches, for instance, and multi-user padlocks can be provided if more than a single maintenance worker is involved.
Permits to work can be used for more extensive plant, more complex management systems, and where entry into confined spaces may be required.
Ensure operators have received appropriate information and training relating to the safe operation of machinery.
Training on machinery safety
All employers, including those in waste management and recycling, have a legal duty to ensure their employees are adequately trained for the work activity they carry out.
Relevant legislation applicable to training requirements includes section 2 of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and Regulation 9 of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations (PUWER).
Find out more
Other machinery safety issues
Falls from height
Falls can occur both when gaining access to places of work, and from the place of work itself (which may not have been designed for this purpose). Where access to items of plant for maintenance purposes requires working at height suitable risk assessments and systems of work must be in place.
Find out more about access and work at height.
Falling heavy objects
It is not uncommon for heavy items to be moved, temporarily supported or inadvertently disturbed during maintenance activities. Ensure suitable risk assessments and systems of work are in place for maintenance activity where heavy items may be moved, temporarily supported or disturbed.
Confined spaces
A number of people are killed or seriously injured in confined spaces each year in the UK. This happens in a wide range of industries, from those involving complex plant to simple storage vessels. Those killed include not only people working in the confined space but those who try to rescue them without proper training and equipment.
A confined space is defined as any space of an enclosed nature where there is a risk of death or serious injury from hazardous substances or dangerous conditions (such as a reduced oxygen atmosphere).
Some confined spaces are fairly easy to identify, for example enclosures with limited openings such as storage tanks, reaction vessels, enclosed drains or sewers. Others, such as open-topped chambers, ductwork, enclosed conveyor systems and unventilated or poorly ventilated rooms, may be less obvious but equally dangerous.
A suitable and sufficient risk assessment for all work activities must be carried out to decide what measures are necessary for safety. For work in confined spaces this means identifying the hazards present, assessing the risks and determining which precautions to take.
Find out more
There is specific, more detailed guidance from WISH on: