Despite all the hard work across the sector to improve our health and safety performance, something has gone awry in the last 12-18 months, with 10 waste-sector fatalities in the 2023 calendar and 4 so far for the 2024 calendar year.
Perhaps the most pertinent fatality for local authorities in recent years was the tragic loss of a waste collection operative who was fatality crushed during an automatic bin lift cycle in January 2023.
The Coroner declared the incident as an accidental death but issued a damming report about the safety standards of the vehicle and the bin lift equipment involved. This has sparked significant investigation into the safety conformity of vehicle bin lifts and the Office of Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) issued a restriction on the current version of BS EN 1501-5 (Lifting devices for RCVs) in November 2023 because it did not adequately address the prevention of reasonably foreseeable human error.
It has been brought to my attention that the HSE will be writing to all Local Authority Chief Executives over the coming weeks to raise awareness of the BS EN1501-5 and concerns around conformity, given the history of incidents reporting operatives being lifted by bin lifts or bins.
Regulation 11 of The Provision of Use and Work Equipment Regulation 1998 (PUWER) is an absolute duty on employers, and where viable control measures to reduce the risk have not been incorporated by the duty holders, fleet operators may be legally liable. Therefore, the HSE hopes to develop a suite of FAQs to support users.
Fleet operators will be expected to work with manufacturers to review existing safeguarding arrangements, and to determine whether additional physical guards may be practicable to improve bin lift safety with existing vehicle fleets. The HSE are requesting manufacturers to deploy solutions to new vehicle fleets and install retrofit solutions to existing fleets, but there are some concerns about the viability of retrofit solutions with older vehicles. Manufacturers are already providing retrofit solutions to RCV lifting equipment at cost to the vehicle operator.
Until appropriate physical safeguards have been developed for RCVs and retrofit solutions have been designed for existing vehicles, WISH INFO 26 should be followed as best practice to assist in managing hazards and implementing control measures. Whilst procedural controls such as training and safe systems of work are important, physical safeguards, such as guards, interlocks and sensors may be more effective.
This is a high-level and developing situation, but updates will continue to be provided as the situation develops. The HSE are likely to include a list of FAQs to support the letter, given the scope and scale of the concerns and potential implications, and the queries that will, undoubtedly arise!
