WISH WASTE 33 – A Brand new formal guidance document for the waste industry
There’s been a real hive of activity across WISH and the respective working groups over the past few months, with a number of guidance documents being reviewed and updated. In the case of WISH WASTE 33, it’s a brand new document for the industry covering ‘Principles of Machinery Safety in Recycling and Recovery Plants’, which is due for release later this year.
Written in collaboration with the HSE, the guidance has been developed by the WISH Forum to help control Health & Safety risks in the waste management industry associated with machinery safety and similar plant used in the waste and recycling sector.
The document aims to provide advise on how to tackle machinery safety, which is now the most common cause of fatal accidents in the UK. The latest Health and Safety Executive (HSE) data shows an average of three waste and recycling sector machinery fatal accidents a year over the past five years (https://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/industry/waste-recycling.pdf), which means this document will be relevant to MRF operators including WDAs, WDCs and WCA's operating their own MRF's.
The document gives an overview of some of the main issues with the safety of machinery in common use at waste, recycling and recovery plants and covers the following key areas:
- General principles of machinery safety – Such as overarching machinery safety principles including how injuries occur and the most common faults leading to accidents,
- Physical machinery safety measures – Covering the hierarchy set out in PUWER and ensuring adequate consideration is given before moving down the hierarchy,
- Considerations for use – Considering the environment, potential damage, misuse and options for guarding including interlocks, fencing and emergency stops such as fixed guards where access is not frequent,
- Interventions – Including cleaning, maintenance and blockage clearance,
- Checks, tests and monitoring – These should be covered within Risk Assessments including how they should be planned and conducted,
- Maintenance – Using the operators manual to include what needs maintaining, frequency, how to obtain replacement parts and how to isolate machinery,
- Modifications and changes in waste type – Adapting and upgrading machinery or integrating with other machinery to expand waste processing capabilities,
- Information, Instruction, Training, Supervision and Communication – Fairly self-explanatory but this ensures machinery users are equipped with the knowledge, understanding and skills to carry out their role safely,
- Signage – To highlight danger areas, safe zones, access or restricted entry points
