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Gary Doolan |
Union fears accident will claim refuse worker’s life
BETWEEN 60 and 100 refuse workers are injured in Islington every year owing to lack of training for the job, union officials said this week.
The problem, according to the GMB union, is an increasing workload and lack of experience in handling new technology.
Members of the union spoke out after contractor ICSL (Islington Cleansing Services Limited) was fined £27,500 for breaching safety regulations.
The court case followed an accident in which an employee got his finger trapped in the tail-lift of a rubbish collection vehicle.
Clerkenwell County Court found that ICSL had breached workplace equipment rules in that it had failed to train the employee, and failed to implement manual handling regulations.
According to the union, in two other accidents an ICSL lorry was written off in a crash on the North Circular Road and an agency worker escaped serious injury when he fell down a refuse tip chute.
GMB union branch secretary Gary Doolan, who is also a Labour councillor, said: “I’m amazed that this company, who claim they have a five-star health and safety award, can allow employees to go out to work without basic training.
“Workers, particularly agency staff, are not getting sufficient training in handling equipment. Fatalities are rare but I can see more happening unless companies start behaving more responsibly.”
Workers collecting domestic and commercial rubbish were at risk of injury, he added.
Cllr Doolan said: “Staff are still picking up refuse in bin bags.
“They have to wear special trousers to protect their legs. But if something is sticking out of a bag, like a tin or glass or even a needle, they can still get hurt.
“Most authorities have wheelie bins or containers, which mean fewer accidents.”
Agency staff, particularly, needed better training, Cllr Doolan said. “They sit them in front of a video and call that training,” he added. “The workers have to deal with highly complicated machinery where potentially they can lose a limb.
“A hydraulic clamp can rip your limbs off at a stroke.
“There’s going to be a fatality sooner or later. There’s not sufficient risk assessment.”
A spokesman for ICSL, which was taken over by Enterprise plc in September, said: “We are working very closely with the council to implement the highest possible health and safety practice.
“Our staff get a thorough training in all the dangers they are likely to meet, whether it is materials in bin bags or dealing with dangerous substances or the way they interact with machinery.” |
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