Waste sector adequately prepared for Swine Flu, says WISH

WISH, which is dedicated to helping promote health and safety in the sector, told letsrecycle.com that there was unlikely to be any sector-specific guidance issued either by itself, the waste trade association the Environmental Services Association (ESA) or Defra's recycling and waste unit unless they received industry-spefic scientific evidence about Swine Flu.

Chris Jones, chairman of WISH, told letsrecycle.com: “There has been no official statement and there is not likely to be one to be quite frankly. I think the industry, and it has been discussed between the ESA and Defra, has looked at it repeatedly and the view that has been formed is that the normal precautions we would encourage everyone to take are more than adequate for health and safety.”

Speaking yesterday, the chief medical officer, Sir Liam Donaldson claimed that the pandemic had potentially reached a plateau, with official Health Protection Agency (HPA) figures showing that there had been 110,000 new cases of the illness last week and a total of 27 deaths since the outbreak started.

The government had previously said the illness was likely to peak at the end of August or in early September and launched a national pandemic hotline last week (July 23) to help advise the public on Swine Flu. The government also advised businesses to have contingency plans in place to minimise the risk to operations.

The HPA published pandemic flu guidance at the start of 2008 for cleaners and refuse workers in a non-health care setting.

Guidance

The guidance states: “If you have to collect or move open bags or garbage from litter bins there is no need to take any extra precautions. The risk of infection by contact with tissues or contaminated material is very low but it is recommended that gloves are used if handling soiled tissues. If gloves are not available, hands should be cleaned promptly after doing this. Gloves do not replace the need for frequent hand washing.”

Mr Jones, who is also director of risk management and compliance at London-based waste firm Cory Environmental, said it would be important for employers to keep staff aware of changing situations as much as possible and most were making moves to do so.

He said: “All the companies have kept their employees informed and I would recognise that there is public concern and that extends to our employees just the same and it is important we keep them informed.”

HSE

The Health and Safety Executive advice to employers issued last month said: “Employers and employees should always practice good personal hygiene measures – use a disposable tissue to control coughs/sneezes, dispose of it appropriately and wash your hands before eating, drinking etc.  In addition at the current time you should:

• Advise your staff to stay at home if they are sick with flu-like symptoms and have good reason to believe, based on HPA guidance, that they may have been exposed to the swine flu virus
• Send home any employees who are displaying flu-like signs/symptoms in the situation described above.”

Biffa

One company that has issued information about its Swine Flu work is Birmingham-based Biffa which is continuing to update customers on developments through its website, which also identifies the measures the company is taking and the fact that no employees have been stricken by the flu so far.

It states: “We are already running an internal staff awareness campaign including providing materials from the NHS ‘Catch It, Bin It, Kill It' campaign. We also have in place business continuity plans developed in response to other risk scenarios and these are relevant to the current pandemic.

“We are reviewing weekly the available data on the number and distribution of cases in the UK and within our workforce. We are also continuing to refine our plans as the situation develops in order that we can provide and maintain the highest possible service levels throughout whilst ensuring the health and safety of our staff and all those affected by our operations.”

One waste manager in another waste firm said there had been a number of cases of Swine Flu. He told letsrecycle.com that there seemed to be various strengths of the virus affecting some stafff and operatives. The Flu has also hit some of the staff at the London offices of the Environment Agency.

Local authorities

The sector is showing increasing awareness of the need to make information and updates available with bodies such as the Somerset Waste Partnership, which covers waste collection and disposal for the county council and five district and borough councils, among those to have opened an area on its website for Swine Flu updates.

The Local Government Association is also monitoring the situation and has provided a summary of recent government briefings on the topic on its website to keep councils aware of developments.

It states: “Councils are keeping a close watch on reports of swine flu cases. They have well-developed contingency plans to cope with an outbreak. The LGA will provide regularly updated briefings so that councils have the latest information about the international, national and local response to Swine Flu.”