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Waste sector views sought on equipment safety laws

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is calling for views from the waste industry as part of a review safety legislation for the inspection of work plant and equipment.

Health and safety large
HSE is seeking  views on the inspection of work plant and equipment

An online survey launched by the safety regulator is calling for views from all types of business – including waste and recycling firms – about how existing legal requirements could be improved to promote effective and proportionate approaches to equipment inspection.

According to the HSE the review will seek to ascertain whether existing regulations ‘support proportionate approaches to work equipment inspection’.

The regulations under review include:

  • The Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 (LOLER)
  • The Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 (PUWER)
  • The Pressure Systems Safety Regulations 2000 (PSSR)
  • The Work at Height Regulations 2005 (WAH)

Commenting on the need for the review, an HSE spokesperson told letsrecycle.com: “HSE has been looking at the regulatory framework for health and safety to check it is proportionate and fit for purpose.

“As part of this work we are reviewing the requirement in health and safety legislation for the inspection or thorough examination of work plant and equipment to understand how they support proportionate approaches to work equipment inspection.

“The aim of the review is to learn about business’ experiences of these requirements, explore what proportionate compliance looks like and identify improvements that will enable businesses to ensure their inspection arrangements are proportionate to their circumstances.”

Impact

On any potential changes to be brought about as a result of the consultation the spokesperson added: “It is too early to say what the impact of the review will be on any particular industry. The types of work equipment used in the waste and recycling industry are within scope of the review so we hope equipment owners and users in the industry take the time to respond to the survey.”

Rick Brunt, head of Agriculture, Waste and Recycling at HSE, spoke at the ORG’s Health and Safety in Waste Management conference last month (20 July), where he presented the HSE’s new strategy for improving Britain’s health and safety policies, ‘Helping Great Britain Work Well’ (see letsrecycle.com story).

Mr Brunt said: “Great Britain has a record to be proud of, it is a world leader in terms of health and safety performance and the health and safety system.” But he added that the waste industry still has room for improvement, and called for collaboration from businesses to share best practice.

While there is no set closing date for the consultation, the review will stay open until at least the end of September, HSE has said.

Related links

HSE survey 

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