Bridging the gap between awareness and action is a priority for the waste and resource management industry in its efforts to improve the sector’s health and safety record, according to a new study published today by the Chartered Institution of Wastes Management (CIWM).

In spite of many initiatives to improve health and safety across the sector, and many examples of good practice, the industry continues to suffer from one of the highest accident and fatality rates1. The aim of the scoping study, which was carried out by Entec UK Ltd and funded through Defra's Waste and Resources Evidence Programme, was to provide an overview of current awareness levels and competence, explore a range of approaches and gauge their success, and identify gaps and weaknesses. The results will inform the development of a Health & Safety Initiative to be taken forward by the CIWM and other key industry stakeholders.

Entec undertook both a literature review and a three stage industry survey that was designed to tease out both management approaches to health and safety and how these are actually implemented ‘on the ground’. The results of the initial questionnaire were broadly positive and suggest that there is a good level of commitment to health and safety, with 80% of respondents believing that their organisation takes it seriously. Awareness was high too, with 90% saying that they are aware of their own responsibilities. Three quarters of the respondents also feel they are getting the right health and safety training for the job.

However, the findings do not tally with the accident statistics for the industry, or with wider stakeholder views and observations captured by Entec during follow up telephone interviews and site visits – demonstrating that there is often a disparity between the perception of health and safety performance and actual performance.

Echoing the Bomel report in 20042, the overall results of the survey indicate that the industry still has some way to go in instilling a better understanding of safety and safe behaviour in the whole workforce. As a result, the report says that ‘behavioural safety’ is a key area where efforts should be focused in the future, tackling factors such as:

• lack of employee involvement, understanding and ownership;
• the ‘supervisory drop’ – where supervisors lack the necessary support to deliver the health and safety improvements required by the senior management, particularly where these conflict with other performance targets such as cost reductions;
• lack of visible commitment to health and safety by senior management; and
• resistance to using personal protective equipment (PPE).

“It is clearly a matter for concern that while many organisations report having robust health and safety management systems, the evidence suggests that these are not having the desired impact.  In the last few years, we have seen a number of very welcome health and safety initiatives and the high levels of awareness among those surveyed should be commended, but this now needs to be reinforced with more and better guidance, good practice sharing, and a focus on embedding health and safety in individual and team behaviour patterns and across the wider organisational culture,” says Chris Murphy, Deputy Chief Executive of the CIWM.

Other contributing factors, such as the health and safety competency of temporary agency staff, the impact of task and finish, and the challenge of training and communicating with workers for whom English is not their first language were also explored in the telephone interviews, as well as the importance of considering health and safety right at the start when new methods and equipment are introduced or when there are changes in organisation, roles and responsibilities.

In its recommendations, the study identifies the provision of sector specific behavioural safety training as a high impact measure that should be considered, and highlights other areas where additional work could bring benefits. These include measures to encourage the development of more waste industry specific hardware, a web-based knowledge exchange where good practice and other learning such as near miss reporting could be shared, and guidance on developing documentation and signage that is easy to understand and doesn’t rely on literacy skills. Where contractors are used, the report recommends exploring ways of extending Key Performance Indicators to include health and safety requirements, and also highlights the need to communicate with and engage small businesses.

The report can be downloaded from the CIWM website at www.ciwm.co.uk/pma/2224, and its findings will now form the basis of further discussions between the CIWM and key industry stakeholders including ESA, WISH, HSE, WRAP, WAMITAB and EU Skills to agree which recommendations should be taken forward and by whom.

ENDS

1 Health & Safety Commission statistics for 2006/07 on fatal injury rates show that the industry has the highest 3 year average rate of 15.1 deaths per 100,000 employees, compared to an average across all industries of 1.3 per 100,000 (www.hse.gov.uk)

2  Mapping health and safety standards in the UK waste industry, HSE, 2004 (www.hse.gov.uk)

Notes to Editors:
1. The Chartered Institution of Wastes Management (CIWM) is the leading professional body for the waste management sector representing over 7000 individuals in the UK and overseas. Established in 1898, CIWM is a non profit-making organisation, dedicated to the promotion of professional competence amongst waste managers. CIWM seeks to raise standards for those working in and with the sector by producing best practice guidance, developing educational and training initiatives, and providing information on key waste-related issues. Comprehensive information about CIWM can be found at www.ciwm.co.uk

2. Delivery of the scoping study was managed by CIWM (EB), the Chartered Institution of Wastes Management Environmental Body, with a Steering Committee comprising representatives from CIWM, ESA, WRAP, WISH, and CYLCH, and from the public and private sector and academia.

Contacts:

Tracy Moffatt
Technical Manager
Tel: 01604 620426
E-mail: tracy.moffatt@ciwm.co.uk

Pat Jennings
Communications Office
Tel: 01604 620426
Mob: 07881 878568
E-mail: pat.jennings@ciwm.co.uk