As a local authority (LA), waste management is an integral part of your responsibilities under health and safety legislation – whether you provide it in-house or contract it out.
Your responsibilities as a client
Good management practice for delivering waste services should be applied to the design, selection and management of waste service delivery – no matter who it is provided by. However, to effectively apply the principles where the service is provided in-house, more formal, accountability relationships between those in client and provider roles within these authorities may need to be established.
Health and safety considerations must be an integral part of the procurement and contract management processes for waste services.
In your client role, you have a significant influence on how the service will be delivered. The health and safety requirements can be integrated into the process, but it is not a guide to detailed procurement practices or contract law.
Sources of further advice
In England and Wales you can get more specific advice and support on procurement issues, and related information, from:
- local partnerships
- Value Wales (Sell2Wales) who provide general advice on procurement and contract management
- the Waste Resources and Action Programme (WRAP) which provides free support, through its local government services team, to LAs on strategic and operational aspects of waste management including procurement advice directly related to waste services
In Scotland, procurement is a devolved issue and relevant guidance and advice can be obtained from Scotland Excel.
Main dutyholder responsibilities
Where an LA provides waste services in-house it must ensure, so far as reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare at work of all its employees (under section 2 of the Health and Safety at Work Act). It will also have duties towards others who are not its employees under section 3 of the Act.
Where an LA uses an external contractor to provide waste services, it has duties (under section 3 of the Act) to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that the contractor’s activities do not adversely affect the health or safety of people who may be affected, such as:
- members of the public
- employees of the authority, or
- the contractor's employees
Both the LA and any external service provider will also have duties under the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations including:
- carrying out suitable and sufficient risk assessments
- making suitable health and safety arrangements
- providing information to employees and, if an external service provider has been appointed, sharing information where appropriate
- co-operating and co-ordinating with any appointed external service provider
In addition, both the LA and the service provider will have duties under the Safety Representatives and Safety Committees Regulations or the Health and Safety (Consultation with Employees) Regulations that require workers to be consulted on health and safety matters.
You can find guidance on both these sets of regulations in the Approved Code of Practice Consulting workers on health and safety.
Sections 36 and 37 of the Act also place duties on individuals such as directors and senior officers, in terms of leadership of health and safety at work, and section 7 covers health and safety duties of employees.
Find out more
HSE has advice on using a health and safety consultant or adviser.
The HSE publication Using contractors: A brief guide provides general guidance for you as clients when using contractors.
In addition, the joint HSE and Waste Industry Safety and Health (WISH) Forum publication Safe waste and recycling collection services includes specific guidance for you as clients in control of contracts and for those who specify and operate waste collection services.