Everyone likes a shortcut, especially if it saves you time. But how many times have I taken a short cut that has backfired? How many times have I jumped between queues in a supermarket to find the shortest one or taken a shortcut home to find a new set of temporary traffic lights hampering my progress?
We are all guilty of taking shortcuts, but they can be beneficial in everyday scenarios. Unfortunately, there are some shortcuts being taken in our industry that result in more severe consequences than just getting stuck at traffic lights.
We continue to see serious and life-changing injuries across the waste industry as a result of shortcuts relating to the bypass or complete removal of machine safety guards. In additional there are significant failures to isolate equipment or ‘lock off’ equipment to avoid use during a repair or servicing activity. In some cases, there is a complete failure to follow agreed safety procedures or protocols including something as simple as wearing a seat belt in a forklift, using interlocks on a Trommel screen system or failing to comply with a Permit to Work system.
As crazy as it may sound, workers across the industry are continuing to take dangerous risks and cutting corners, disabling safety features and removing guards in the interests of time saving. Granted, ‘Time is Money’ but not when it puts the workforce at risk and any minor savings are dwarfed in comparison to an incident investigation or prosecution. Why would anyone want to remove a fixed guard from a conveyor belt and risk losing a limb? It sounds extreme but these things are happening…regularly! Just look at the HSE prosecutions register!
The WISH (Waste Industry Safety & Health) Group continues to work to tackle these issues and have revised the WASTE 29 Practical Isolation and Lock-off Guidance, which was released at the end of 2021.
Research indicates that failure to securely isolate and lock-off waste and recycling machinery is a primary cause of around 80% of fatal machinery accidents, and the revised guidance is aimed at tackling these more common yet fundamental issues.
Why is this still happening? Is it a poor safety culture? Is it a training issue? Is it a lack of supervision and monitoring? Ultimately, these safety shortcuts appear to become an acceptable practice, but an injury is inevitable, it’s just a matter of time!
WISH-WASTE-29-Practical-isolation-and-lock-off-guidance-October-2021.pdf (wishforum.org.uk)
