ESA’s Members are committed to ensuring the highest levels of health and safety for employees and the public and has worked closely with HSE following the launch of its initiative to focus on health and safety performance in the collection and transport of municipal solid waste.

ESA Accident Reduction Charter
In our drive to improve health and safety, ESA formally launched in 2004 with HSE, an Accident Reduction Charter. Judith Hackitt, as HSE Commissioner, witnessed the signing of the Charter which aimed to reduce the incidence rate of RIDDOR reportable accidents by 10% every year over a five year period and to eliminate fatalities by the end of that period.

ESA has achieved a 40% reduction in RIDDOR incidence rate over the last 5 year period and has now renewed the Charter for the period to 2013, with further renewed annual commitments to reduce RIDDOR reportable accidents by 10%.

ESA Strategy for Health and Safety
In April 2006, ESA published the waste management industry’s first strategy for Health and Safety. This sets out the industry’s health and safety goals, the activities that will be required to meet them and a clear timetable for delivery over the next two years.

Every year ESA Members report RIDDOR accident figures and analysis of these figures has helped to identify the key areas of concern in terms of the numbers or severity of accidents. The Strategy focuses on slips, trips and falls, manual handling and impact incidents as these incidents make up the majority of incidents reported by ESA Members. The Strategy also targets machinery safety as accidents associated with plant and machinery can result in serious injuries.

The HSE welcomed the publication of the strategy which is available on ESA’s web site. 

ESA intends to issue a revised Strategy later in 2009.

Health and Safety events
ESA arranges health and safety events to spread good practice and advice on health and safety in May and June 2006. The programme and presentations for these events are available from the events section of ESA's web site) .

Guidance and practical advice
HSE advice for waste management companies
The HSE has published health and safety advice for operators in the waste management industry on a range of subjects, including:

- waste/recycling collection operations in the street, including reversing;
- Public risk: Street waste/ recycling collection operations;
- Earth moving vehicles on Landfill Sites;
- Bioaerosols; and
- Totting (Tatting) or Sorting Waste and Recyclables by hand in association with mechanical shovels

Further Information

WISH Forum
ESA is an active member of the Waste Industry Safety and Health (WISH) Forum and has helped produce a number of guidance documents, including:  

Safe use of skip loaders - Advice for operators  
Managing orphaned compressed gas cylinders  
Green waste collection – health issues


Further information is available from
WISH Forum web site          HSE waste management web site

March 2009