Procter Machine Safety has published a new edition of its free Guide to Machine Guarding for the Waste Management and Recycling Industry. This will help plant operators prepare for the campaign of inspections announced recently by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). In addition, the company offers a range of products and services to aid compliance with regulations if any machine guards are not up to the standards required by the HSE.
According to the HSE, contact with dangerous machinery is one of the top three causes of fatal injuries in the waste and recycling industry – and this industry is one of the most dangerous in terms of fatalities and injuries per 100,000 workers. The HSE is therefore carrying out a campaign of over 500 unannounced inspections between October 2022 and March 2023.
To help plant operators prepare for the possibility of a visit from an inspector, Procter Machine Safety has published an updated edition of its Guide to Machine Guarding for the Waste Management and Recycling Industry. This latest edition refers to recently published documents from WISH (Waste Industry Safe and Health Forum), which were prepared with support from the HSE. Procter’s latest guide includes an up-to-date list of British Standards that apply to machine guarding and related issues such as access control. It also goes into detail about the different types of guarding and how to select guarding that will be suitable for the conditions encountered in a typical waste management or recycling plant.
For operators needing practical support, Procter Machine Safety offers a broad range of services including PUWER inspections of machinery, site surveys, and the design, manufacture and installation of machine guarding. The company also specialises in bespoke access platforms for plant and machinery.
If an HSE inspector calls, they will want to see that risks are being managed in a systematic way. Evidence of the involvement of a third party in assessing the risks relating to machine safety will undoubtedly be viewed positively.
To download a copy of the updated Guide to Machine Guarding for the Waste Management and Recycling Industry, visit the Resources section of our website. Alternatively, contact us to discuss specific projects.