Over recent years, the waste and recycling industry has developed the unenviable reputation as being one of the most dangerous sectors for both employees and members of the public. While the industry itself totals about 0.6% of the employees in Britain, it accounted for 2.8% of reported injuries to employees, 4.2% of fatalities at work and 2.5% of the major injuries reported following a work place accident.

As a direct result of these statistics an agreement has now been reached between the Health and Safety Executive ("HSE") and several key stakeholders in the waste and recycling industry in an attempt to reduce the number of health and safety incidents within the sector.

Is there cause for concern?

The figures reported on the HSE's website confirm the extent of the risks linked with waste and recycling activities. Between 2004/5 and 2011/12, the HSE received reports of 97 employee work place fatalities, coupled with 19 members of the public being fatally injured on sites and a total of 3,722 employees suffering major injuries.

Putting these figures into perspective, the number of reported over three day injuries in this sector is almost five times higher than that in either the agriculture or construction sector.

One argument which has been put forward to seek to explain why the sector has developed this reputation is down to the wide range of activities which fall under the waste and recycling umbrella; including the collection, the disposal and then recycling of industrial, commercial and household waste, some of which may contain hazardous materials or chemicals.

These activities also often require large sites housing a wide range of different types of machinery, which are supported by a fleet of vehicles. Indeed, the HSE's figures confirm that almost a third of the fatalities on these particular sites (29%) are due to employees being struck by vehicles.

What is the way forward?

The strategy to deal with the high incident rate in the waste and recycling Industry is rooted in the wider HSE strategy entitled 'The Health and Safety of Great Britain - Be Part of the Solution', which was launched in 2009. The purpose of the strategic review was to provide an overall framework for maintaining and improving Great Britain's health and safety performance and in particular the targeting of a number of individual sectors.

In an attempt to address the growing safety concerns, a summit was organised attended by senior individuals from across the sector to discuss the key health and safety issues facing the industry and what needs to be done to tackle its poor health and safety record. The event was organised by the HSE and the Waste Industry Safety and Health ("WISH") Forum.

Giving the keynote speech to the conference, HSE chair Judith Hackitt said it was important to have a common understanding of the health and safety issues facing the industry. She confirmed that "We must work together to respond to the current challenges and drive improvements in health and safety performance, but improving the track record is not for the HSE to resolve alone - industry must take the lead."

Chris Jones, WISH chair, stated "The theme of the summit was delivering the solution together. We have established now that there is a clear willingness and commitment to take action - now we have to stop talking about it and get on with making it happen."

An agreed plan is to be published in April 2013, with the strategic aim to achieve a 10% year on year reduction in RIDDOR reported accident rates and zero deaths in the industry. The improvement in health and safety at these sites is to be delivered through five distinct and key themes: leadership, worker involvement, building competence, creating healthier and safer workplaces and providing support for SMEs.

What next?

Once the plan has been published, we will send you a further update.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.