The Unite Union says waste contractors in the south west of England “need to speed up the introduction of health and safety measures” for workers dealing with potentially contaminated waste.
The Unite Union says it will be asking councils to intervene if employers do not “put workers’ safety first”
Unite says it has more than 900 members “at various sites across the region” and is concerned that its members could be handling Covid-19 waste from contaminated collections such as care homes “without adequate PPE”.
The union says the majority of waste services in the area are run by private contractors, but some are council -run too, and it will be asking councils to intervene if employers do not “put workers’ safety first”.
Contaminated waste
Unite regional officer Ken Fish said the union had received reports of social distancing regulations not being adhered to and crews “travelling with excessive operatives in collection vehicles”.
“We have grave concerns for workers’ safety within the waste sector. Our members across the south west region are exposed to risk from the start of their working day,” Mr Fish said.
“Inadequate safety measures are completely unacceptable and we urge employers to engage proactively with us”
He added: “Workers are having to collect contaminated waste from care homes that have positive tests, without adequate PPE and, on most occasions, they may not even be aware of the significant additional risk.
“It is understood that waste volumes are now at a similar level to Christmas and this has an impact on workloads with the additional pressure on the collection of green waste and the reopening of some of the recycling centres.
“Inadequate safety measures are completely unacceptable and we urge employers to engage proactively with our experienced health & safety reps when risk assessments are being produced.
“If this does happen, we will be asking councils, which pay the outsourced contractors, to intervene urgently.”
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Source: letsrecycle.com Waste Managment
