Record number of illegal waste sites shut down

Waste Crime Report 2013 shows Environment Agency shuts down 25 illegal waste sites every week. The number of illegal waste sites being shut down has dramatically increased in the last year, a new report from the Environment Agency has revealed.
Environment Agency cracks down on illegal waste sites
The Environment Agency reported that it stopped 1,279 illegal waste sites last year – the equivalent of 25 sites every week – in its second annual waste crime report, published today. The number of sites stopped increased by 70 per cent on 2011/12 figures, attributed to the Environment Agency’s crackdown on illegal sites, which saw an Illegal Waste Sites Taskforce set up for two years.

Legitimate waste businesses report that they are being undercut by these illegal sites, which can offer waste collection, treatment and disposal at cheaper prices than their competitors, but which have no intention of disposing of this waste safely. It is estimated that waste crime diverts as much as £1bn every year from legitimate businesses and HM Treasury.
Some of the major crimes stopped this year include illegal exports, serious dumping incidents and illegal waste sites where waste is burnt or and buried with no environmental safeguards in place. Illegal waste sites can cause misery for local communities with infestations of flies, acrid smoke and ugly piles of waste affecting homes and quality of life. They can also lead to serious pollution incidents.
CRS’s Head of Environment commented ‘ These figures demonstrate the real risk of legitimate organisations using of illegal waste carriers, or have their waste take to an illegal site.  It is vital that organisations verify where their waste goes, in order to meet the waste duty of care requirements. ‘
Stronger partnerships
Ed Mitchell, Director of Environment and Business at the Environment Agency, said: “Waste crime puts people and the environment at risk, and undermines the legitimate waste industry. We are taking tough action to deal with this problem, through the improved use of intelligence and stronger partnerships with the police and other enforcement bodies. The two year Illegal Waste Sites Taskforce has been hugely successful in slashing the number of illegal waste sites operating in England.”
The report also shows that most illegal waste sites are now shut down within 12 months.
But there is still more to be done – and the report also reveals that:

• The majority of illegal waste sites are still clustered around towns, cities and key motorway links.
• Construction and demolition waste continues to be a problem – with construction waste present at over 25 per cent of illegal waste sites and 23 per cent of large scale illegal waste dumping incidents.
• Scrap cars are found at a quarter of all illegal waste sites, and there were a significant number of serious waste dumps involving chemical drums, oil or fuel. 
• The courts confiscated over £1.3 million last year from waste criminals under the Proceeds of Crime Act.

Case Studies of recent Environment Agency waste crime prosecutions
A Hebden Bridge man who was wanted for waste crimes in Todmorden began a 25 month jail term for running an illegal waste operation. Mark Eric Butterworth (51) of Mytholmroyd, Hebden Bridge, had been depositing and storing skip loads of waste at two unpermitted sites in West Yorkshire, where there was no infrastructure in place to protect the environment. He had been previously convicted in May 2010 of operating a waste transfer station on the same land during 2007 without a permit, a crime for which he received a suspended prison sentence.
John Roberts (69) who illegally dumped up to 14,000 tyres on his farm in Ludlow, Shropshire, was fined £20,000 and ordered to pay £7,284 in costs in August this year.  The judge also ordered Mr Roberts to remove the tyres within three months. By not holding an environmental permit, Mr Roberts was undercutting  legal tyre operators and avoided the legitimate costs of disposal. Illegally dumped stockpiles of tyres can present a serious fire risk to communities and the environment. Burning tyres can cause significant pollution, releasing toxic smoke and chemicals into the environment.

Last Race of the Season for Mighty Minis – Donington

The season finale & Championship deciding rounds took place at Donington Park. There was a day race and what is becoming the annual night race.
It was a disappointing day qualifier for Caroline managing only 13th place in the greasy conditions especially as the people she had been running with were both in front of her on the grid.
There was a long wait until the next qualifying session which would be in the dark. Unfortunately as dusk descended so too did the rain. The track was very wet with a lot of standing water, convinced she’d qualified last Caroline was pleased to find herself in 15th place.
It was a quick turnaround between qualifying and racing so a refuel and a quick check and it was back out to race. Thankfully the rain had stopped but the amount of spray coming from the other cars combined with the dark still made it very tricky.
Caroline lost a couple of places off the start but found a steady approach was the best way as she quickly caught and overtook the cars in front as the slid off the track. At the end of the race Caroline had gained some solid points towards the ladies title in 14th place.
Sunday and the final race of the season, there were a few sleepy heads due to a late night but everyone was looking forward to the race which thankfully was dry!!! The additional lighting was removed from the mini, the set up on the car put back to a dry one and the car was ready.
Caroline made a great start but found herself boxed in with nowhere to go as she didn’t fancy the wet grass! As the cars exited Redgate for the first time there was contact and cars spinning off the track in every direction. Caroline missed the carnage and was soon in the battle for 5th place.
On lap 8 Caroline made a mistake, carrying too much speed into Redgate and running off the track and onto the slippy grass. Fortunately she was able to recover and continue but she had dropped to the back of the pack. She finished a lonely 9th place.
At the end of the 2013 season Caroline entered and finished every race, taking 7th place overall in the championship and a clear winner for retaining the Ladies Championship.

More than 1,100 construction sites fail safety checks

Poor standards and dangerous practices were found at nearly half of the building sites visited during a month long safety drive in September 2013. During a nationwide campaign, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) visited 2,607 sites where refurbishment or repair work was taking place. Inspectors found basic safety standards were not being met on 1,105 sites.  On 644 sites, practices were so poor that enforcement action was necessary to protect workers – with 539 prohibition notices served ordering dangerous activities to stop immediately and 414 improvement notice issued requiring standards to improve.

The most common problems identified included failing to protect workers during activities at height, exposure to harmful dust and inadequate welfare facilities. Heather Bryant, HSE’s Chief Inspector of Construction said:

“It is disappointing to find a significant number of sites falling below acceptable health and safety standards, where our inspectors encountered poor practice this often went hand in hand with a lack of understanding. Through initiatives like this we are able to tackle underlying issues before they become established and we will continue to work with the industry in an effort to drive up standards. However those who recklessly endanger the health and lives of their workforce can expect to face tough consequences.”

During the month, inspectors made unannounced visits to construction sites to ensure they were managing high-risk activity, such as working at height and the control of exposure to harmful dusts.  Inspectors were also looking for good site order, sound structures and basic welfare facilities.

Better construction HSE training provides an opportunity to get things right before inspection or enforcement action.  You can read more about our recommended construction courses and other services at http://www.crsrisk.com/construction_cdm Or for more about the HSE initiative, including examples of good and bad practice discovered by HSE inspectors during the campaign, see the online ‘Safersites’ webpages at: http://www.hse.gov.uk/construction/campaigns/safersites/index.htm

Bonfire Night – Scary information

Did you know?

• A sparkler reaches a temperature of up to 2,000 degrees Celsius - that's 20 times the boiling point of water.

• Sparklers get five times hotter than cooking oil.

• A rocket can reach 150 miles an hour.

• A firework shell can go as high as 200 metres.

• Three sparklers burning together generate the same heat as a blow-torch.

• Why do you see the explosion before hearing it? The sound travels at 742 miles/ hour, but light travels 670,616,625.6 miles / hour.

• A sparkler burns at five times the heat of a bonfire.

• The highest number of firework-related injuries happen at family or private parties.

• Around half of all injuries happen to children under the age of 17.

• The most common injuries are to hands followed by eyes and faces.

Stay safe this year ensure that you have carried out a risk assessment before you light your fire and fireworks.

HSE CONSTRUCTION INSPECTION INITIATIVE – SEPTEMBER 2013

HSE Construction Inspectors recently carried out a major inspection and enforcement initiative targeting the refurbishment sector. 

During the nationwide campaign,

• Inspectors visited 2,607 sites where refurbishment or repair work was taking place.
• Inspectors found basic safety standards were not being met on 1,105 sites
• On 644 sites, practices were so poor that enforcement action was necessary to protect workers
• 539 prohibition notices were served ordering dangerous practices to stop immediately
• 414 improvement notices were issued requiring standards to improve

The most common problems identified included during site visits

• failing to protect workers during activities at height,
• exposure to harmful dust

·         inadequate welfare facilities.

CRS have a their next programme of courses commencing January 2014 and are now taking bookings for NEBOSH Certificate in Construction Health & Safety and NEBOSH General Certificate with prices starting from £1299 plus vat visit our website www.crsrisk.com  or call Ros Stacey and make sure your employees are trained and your company does not fall foul of the HSE inspections.

It’s back ………..

Due to lots of requests by our delegates who have attended our Health Safety & Environmental courses at any one of our 15 open training venues we will be bringing back our special “Delegate of the Month” feature in our monthly e-newsletter starting January 2014. So if you have attended one of our open courses during the last six months  and would like to be nominated contact your trainer or contact Ros Stacey -  rs@crsrisk.com for more details. If you have not yet attended one of our courses but will be doing so in the next few months don’t forget to mention it to your trainer during the course.

All delegates who appear in our e-newsletter  will have their names  put into a Prize Draw at the end of the Year, with a chance to win  a Marks & Spencer voucher value £50 (just in time for Christmas).

Delivering Rock Star Customer Experience

Recent research conducted on behalf of Mitel in the UK with over 2000 customers found that 74% would be prepared to change supplier based on a poor customer experience and 46% have actually changed already. Ouch!

The research reveals that personal touch is critical to delivering a positive experience, followed by fast and effective service. The most important factor for consumers when contacting a brand or company is being able to interact with a real person, not an automated service, followed by getting a quick response and having a query resolved immediately.

Let’s just look at that again. Customers want personal, fast and effective service. Simple isn’t it when it’s put like that. Nothing technical there, just what I would call the basics of a great customer experience.

But as Richard Branson says, “it’s about attention to detail and communication. Neither of which are difficult, so naturally they’re the first things we forget."

For that personal experience and attention to detail call Ros Stacey at CRS  - 01283 509175 to find out more about our training courses from a real person