Description
The designer should ensure work equipment is suitable for its intended purpose. Where different machines are put together to form a process or line, the supplier and user should consider their interactions. You may need to consult someone with sufficient expertise in safety matters.
Page 1 of 9
Health and Safety
Executive
Designing and operating
material recovery facilities
(MRFs) safely
Waste 13(rev1)
Contents
Summary 2
Introduction 2
Assessing the risks 2
Workplace transport 3
Machinery 4
Ergonomics 4
Working environment for ‘pickers’ 5
Dust 5
Noise 6
Space and access 6
Welfare 6
Fire 7
References and further reading 8
Further information 9
Photograph courtesy of MK Group
Health and Safety
Executive
Designing and operating material recovery facilities (MRFs) safely Page 2 of 9
Summary
This guidance gives advice on the main health, safety and welfare issues at
material recovery facilities (MRFs).
The guidance is primarily aimed at designers/manufacturers, installers
and users involved in developing and operating MRFs, also sometimes
called material recycling or reclamation facilities.
It explains how to remove or reduce key general health and safety risks
associated with designing and operating an MRF. It includes advice about how
to assess hazards and provides solutions that will help eliminate or reduce the
risk of serious injury or ill health.
Introduction
1 This guidance was produced by the Health and Safety Executive in
consultation with Waste Industry Safety and Health Forum (WISH).
2 There has been an increase in the use of MRFs in the UK because of
changes in waste management operations. This guidance highlights the main
health and safety issues to consider when designing, installing, making
alterations to, or operating an MRF. It also provides guidance on welfare issues
in MRFs.
3 The guidance cannot cover every risk and is not comprehensive. It does
however identify other sources of information, but in some cases you may need
to refer to a health and safety professional.
4 Although it is primarily aimed at designers, managers, supervisors and users
of MRFs, it may also interest safety professionals who may advise waste
management companies and those working at such sites.
Assessing the risks
5 The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 require
employers and self-employed people to carry out a suitable and sufficient risk
assessment of their activities.
6 Your risk assessment will help you to:
?
identify the hazards that can cause harm;
?
identify who is at risk, eg workers, contractors, subcontractors, agency and
temporary workers, members of the public or visitors;
?
assess the risks from those hazards;
?
eliminate or reduce risks (by using appropriate control measures), so far as
is reasonably practicable;
?
record any significant findings.
Health and Safety
Executive
Designing and operating material recovery facilities (MRFs) safely Page 3 of 9
7 Your risk assessment should be regularly reviewed to ensure that any
control measures put in place remain effective. When reviewing, you should
consider the following:
?
Are there safe systems of work in place that reflect the risks associated with
the activities?
?
Do your employees follow those systems of work? If not, why not?
?
Are your systems adequate to control the risk? Do they need revising?
?
Are the procedures and checks you have put in place sufficient?
?
Do you need to do certain tasks more (or less) frequently?
?
Are there any changes to the working environment that might have an
impact?
8 This guidance gives information that will help you comply with the law, and
may be used to help with the risk assessment process. It is not, however, a
substitute for a suitable and sufficient site or task-specific risk assessment
based upon individual site conditions, layout, structure, the exact nature of the
activities, the types of waste material involved and other factors. For further
information about risk assessment, visit www.hse.gov.uk/risk.
Workplace transport
9 Transport operations associated with vehicle movements in MRFs represent
a risk of serious or fatal accidents to workers and others. Traffic routes for MRFs
(for both the site and its buildings) should be properly designed to permit safe
traffic movement. A risk assessment should be carried out for all workplace
transport activities. Consider each of the following:
?
Safe site:
? Is it organised so that pedestrians and vehicles are kept apart?
? Are vehicle and pedestrian traffic routes clearly marked and are signs
clearly visible?
? Are there site rules and are they enforced?
? Are reversing operations kept to a minimum?
?
Safe driver:
? Are they qualified and competent?
? Is their training up to date?
? Are they aware of their health and safety responsibilities?
? Do they have the correct personal protective equipment (PPE)?
?
Safe vehicle:
? Is it right for the job?
? Is it maintained, inspected and repaired regularly?
? Can it be accessed safely to minimise the need for work at height?
? Has it been fitted with any safety devices, eg mirror, CCTV, reversing
alarms, radar, flashing beacons?
10 You can find more information on HSE’s workplace transport website at
www.hse.gov.uk/workplacetransport. Guidance specifically for the waste
industry can be found in Safe transport in waste management and recycling
facilities
1
and Hand sorting of recyclables (‘totting’) with vehicle assistance.
2
Health and Safety
Executive
Designing and operating material recovery facilities (MRFs) safely Page 4 of 9
Machinery
11 The designer should ensure work equipment is suitable for its intended
purpose. Where different machines are put together to form a process or line,
the supplier and user should consider their interactions. You may need to
consult someone with sufficient expertise in safety matters (see Buying new
machinery
3
for guidance on this).
12 Carry out an assessment of the machinery in an MRF to ensure it is safe to
use. When choosing the appropriate safeguards, consider the following:
?
what guarding is appropriate:
? use fixed guards to enclose the dangerous parts, whenever practical.
They should be secured in place so they cannot be easily removed
without a tool (eg screws or nuts and bolts, Allen bolts etc);
? use perimeter guarding/fencing to enclose a number of machines.
(If perimeter fencing is fitted, the gap between the fence and the machine
should normally be sufficiently small to prevent anybody remaining in it
without being detected);
? if regular access to dangerous parts is essential (eg to clear blockages,
lubricate or clean), use moveable guards/gates fitted with interlocking
devices so that the machine cannot start before the guard is closed and
cannot be opened while the machine is still moving. These devices must
be designed and installed so that they are difficult or impossible to
bypass or defeat. Guidance on the selection and design of interlocking
devices is available from BS 1088-1:2008.
4
?
providing adequate emergency stop arrangements for moving machinery,
eg conveyor belts;
?
whether permit-to-work systems and effective isolation are required for
cleaning, blockage clearing or maintenance and repair operations (see HSE’s
safe maintenance website at www.hse.gov.uk/safemaintenance/permits.htm
for guidance on this);
?
machinery siting (especially access, lighting and maintenance arrangements)
and in particular:
? whether there is adequate access to maintenance points, eg lubrication
points so they can be reached from the ground or a secure working
platform rather than a ladder. Note that working platforms should have
adequate side protection and no open edges at platform level (eg the
benchmark should be at least that of guardrails and toeboards to the
standards found at scaffolding);
? adequate access to machinery that requires cleaning.
13 Further guidance can be found on HSE’s work equipment and machinery
website at www.hse.gov.uk/work-equipment-machinery and in Recover paper
safely: Guidance for the recovered paper industry.
5
Ergonomics
14 MRFs have specific ergonomic demands when workers are hand sorting
materials and you should consider these fully at the design stage.
?
Design picking conveyors so that the belt height and width do not require
excessive reaching or bending.
?
The line speed should not be too fast. Musculoskeletal risks from repetitive
arm movements and stress can result from excessive pick rates. Throughput
volume, types of items being picked and pick targets may also lead to
excessive pick rates.
Health and Safety
Executive
Designing and operating material recovery facilities (MRFs) safely Page 5 of 9
?
Line speeds that are too fast (>10 m/min) can also cause motion sickness.
?
Transfer points should not require operators to bend or twist excessively
when taking items from the belt and placing them in the transfer chute.
?
What types of materials operators are expected to throw – very light
materials require a lot of effort, very heavy materials can be tiring.
?
Avoid people having to stand on cold/hard floors with no facility to rest or
change position. Where it is advantageous, and reasonably practicable,
consider providing seats, foot bars and anti-fatigue insulated matting.
?
Provide adequate lighting of picking lines.
?
Do not expose operators to excessive vibration.
15 Further guidance is available in Upper limb disorders in the workplace,
6
Conveyor belt workstation design
7
and Ergonomics and human factors at work.
8
Working environment for ‘pickers’
16 It is preferable to provide proper isolated ‘picking cabins’, rather than to operate
from picking belts exposed to hazards from other parts of the process, such as:
?
noise;
?
moving vehicles;
?
tipping and loading operations;
?
excessive dust;
?
vibration.
Picking cabins provide a degree of isolation from these hazards and enable you
to provide economical heating for staff.
Dust
17 Segregating pickers from the general environment by providing picking cabins
also makes it easier to provide any necessary effective local exhaust ventilation to
deal with dust and bioaerosols. Some picking cabins have a separate ventilation
system of fresh air exchange or positive pressure to effectively prevent the entry
of dust and bioaerosols from any nearby tipping, screening or similar operations
that liberate dust into the atmosphere. Options you can consider include:
?
providing a suitably ventilated picking cabin;
?
providing local exhaust ventilation where required and good design of
general building ventilation to prevent any liberated dust accumulating in the
working atmosphere. Further guidance on the legal requirements and
practical methods for buying and using LEV to control airborne contaminents
at work can be found on HSE’s LEV webpages at www.hse.gov.uk/lev;
?
making sure the machinery design and location does not compromise
ventilation or expose operators to excessive noise;
?
providing suitable ventilation/air filtration fitted vehicles (particularly in the
tipping area);
?
providing facilities to enable rejection of heavily contaminated loads;
?
providing suitable cleaning equipment (ie using vacuum cleaners rather than
compressed air or manual sweeping which can create dust clouds).
18 You can find more guidance on the legal requirements and practical
methods for reducing exposure to dusts and bioaerosols on HSE’s waste
management and recycling website at www.hse.gov.uk/waste and on
HSE’s Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH) website
at www.hse.gov.uk/coshh.
Health and Safety
Executive
Designing and operating material recovery facilities (MRFs) safely Page 6 of 9
Noise
19 Noise is also a concern in MRFs. Items of machinery and operations which
produce noise should, so far as is reasonably practicable, be located and
operated away from where people are routinely required to work. Examples
include:
?
overband magnets;
?
eddy-current devices;
?
changes in conveyor direction/level (where one conveyor drops waste onto
another);
?
screens (vibrating, trommel etc).
20 Further guidance on the legal requirements and practical methods for
reducing noise exposure can be found on HSE’s noise at work website at
www.hse.gov.uk/noise.
Space and access
21 Consider the following when assessing space and access in an MRF:
?
Provide sufficient space for, and suitable access to, storage areas.
?
Provide suitable access to high-level operating areas. For example try to
avoid access steps to working stations that are excessively steep, or
elevated working platforms that need to be accessed by vertical ladders, or
having insufficient headroom above the working station.
?
Provide storage that can accommodate periods when materials cannot be
moved from site, or as capacity increases.
?
Design pick-up and drop points to make sorting materials easy.
?
Provide adequate fixed access and space for cleaning, blockage clearing,
materials observation, repair and maintenance operations.
?
Provide adequate space for fire escapes.
?
Avoid blind bends where possible; where you cannot avoid them, consider
measures such as mirrors to help drivers and pedestrians see what is round
the corner.
?
Provide separate vehicle and pedestrian access points to buildings and
operational areas to ensure pedestrian/vehicle separation.
?
Provide suitable storage space for staff to keep their PPE and other
essential items (respirators, gloves, vacuum cleaners etc) clean.
Welfare
22 In MRFs there are important environmental and welfare considerations.
?
Provide a ‘reasonable’ working temperature at workstations. Where the work
involves severe physical effort, the temperature should be at least 13°C, and
at least 16°C otherwise.
?
Provide adequate lighting. Good lighting is less fatiguing for staff and also
makes tasks easier to perform (eg better waste segregation, faster blockage
clearance, meaning less plant downtime etc).
?
Floor materials should be suitable and fit for purpose. In MRFs, they should
be durable enough for the work carried out, and minimise the slip/trip risks.
Also, remember that open steel gridwork is not always the preferred option,
as it can make the consequences of any fall more severe. Consider anti-
fatigue flooring materials where a substantial part of the work is done
standing.
Health and Safety
Executive
Designing and operating material recovery facilities (MRFs) safely Page 7 of 9
?
Consider the quality and location of toilet and washing facilities. They should
also be designed to be easily cleaned because of the amount of waste, dust
and other residues that will be deposited.
?
Good personal hygiene is vital for waste and recycling workers, to prevent
infections and other ill health that may be caused by working with waste.
?
Provide suitable personal protective equipment such as gloves, when skin is
likely to become contaminated.
?
Advise workers who handle waste to wash their hands before eating and
drinking, and before wearing gloves.
?
Provide adequate education and training to ensure workers understand the
importance of hygiene and use the facilities that are available.
?
Consider having a reporting system for ill health complaints to help analyse
sickness absence.
23 Further guidance is available in the HSE leaflets Workplace health, safety
and welfare: A short guide for managers,
9
Stay clean – stay healthy: Looking
after your health in the waste/recycling industry
10
and HSE’s skin at work
website at www.hse.gov.uk/skin.
Fire
24 There is a risk of fire in MRFs, and this risk can increase depending on the
type of materials processed and how they are processed. For example:
?
paper and timber can ignite readily;
?
plastics and rubber give off toxic smoke;
?
some materials can become explosive if in a fine condition (eg certain
dusts).
25 Sources of ignition can include:
?
poorly installed and/or maintained electrical equipment that can spark or
overheat;
?
poorly installed and/or maintained mechanical equipment, such as bearings,
that can overheat;
?
smoking;
?
batteries and accumulators;
?
‘tramp’ metal that finds its way into moving machinery and causes localised
‘hot spots’. Prevent metal getting into moving machinery by pre-sorting and/
or extraction by a magnet/eddy current separator, especially when ignitable
or explosive materials are present;
?
poorly controlled hot work (welding, burning etc). Where there are flammable
materials, risk assess hot work and put effective measures into place to
reduce the risk of fire. You may need to carry out hot work under a rigorous
permit-to-work system;
?
some materials, such as rubber crumb, have been reported to have ignited
spontaneously (see Spontaneous heating of piled tyre shred and rubber
crumb – Briefing note at www.hse.gov.uk/rubber/spontaneous.htm). Paper
and other cellulose-based materials have reportedly been known to self-
heat, and have even ignited where stocks are so large that the heat cannot
radiate safely. The product trade associations for these materials may be
able to provide you with further guidance on precautions.
Health and Safety
Executive
Designing and operating material recovery facilities (MRFs) safely Page 8 of 9
References and further reading
References
1 Safe transport in waste management and recycling facilities Waste09 HSE
Books 2004 www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/waste09.htm
2 Hand sorting of recyclables (‘totting’) with vehicle assistance Waste18(rev1)
HSE Books 2012 www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/waste18.htm
3 Buying new machinery: A short guide to the law and your responsibilities
when buying new machinery for use at work Leaflet INDG271(rev1) HSE Books
2011 www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg271.htm
4 BS EN 1088:1995+A2:2008 Safety of machinery. Interlocking devices
associated with guards. Principles for design and selection British Standards
Institution
5 Recover paper safely: Guidance for the recovered paper industry Leaflet
INDG392 HSE Books 2004 www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg392.htm
6 Upper limb disorders in the workplace HSG60 (Second edition) HSE Books
2002 ISBN 978 0 7176 1978 8 www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/books/hsg60.htm
7 Conveyor belt workstation design General Information Sheet GEIS4 HSE
Books 2012 www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/geis4.htm
8 Ergonomics and human factors at work: A brief guide Leaflet INDG90(rev3)
HSE Books 2012 www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg90.htm
9 Workplace health, safety and welfare: A short guide for managers Leaflet
INDG244(rev2) HSE Books 2007 www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg44.htm
10 Stay clean – stay healthy. Looking after your health in the waste/recycling
industry INDG415 HSE Books 2007 www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg415.htm
Further reading
HSE materials recovery facility website www.hse.gov.uk/waste/mrf.htm
HSE waste website www.hse.gov.uk/waste
HSE transport website www.hse.gov.uk/workplacetransport/index.htm
Controlling fire and explosion risks in the workplace: A brief guide to the
Dangerous Substances and Explosive Atmospheres Regulations Leaflet
INDG370(rev1) HSE Books 2013 www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg370.htm
Fire and explosion risks from pentane in expandable polystyrene (EPS) HSE
Books 1998 www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/PPS1.htm
(Advice about fire-fighting equipment, means of escape etc is available from
your local fire authority)
Managing offensive/hygiene waste Waste22 HSE Books 2009
www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/waste22.htm
Health and Safety
Executive
Published by the Health and Safety Executive 07/13 WASTE13(rev1) Page 9 of 9
Providing and using work equipment safely: A brief guide to the law Leaflet
INDG291(rev1) HSE Books 2012 www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg291.htm
Safe working with flammable substances Leaflet INDG227 HSE Books 1996
www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg227.htm
Safe use of work equipment. Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations
1998. Approved Code of Practice and guidance L22 (Third edition) HSE Books
2008 ISBN 978 0 7176 6295 1 www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/books/l22.htm
Workplace transport safety: A brief guide Leaflet INDG199(rev2)
HSE Books 2012 www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg199.htm
Workplace transport safety: An employers’ guide HSG136 (Second edition)
HSE Books 2005 ISBN 978 0 7176 6154 1
www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/books/hsg136.htm
Further information
For information about health and safety, or to report inconsistencies or
inaccuracies in this guidance, visit www.hse.gov.uk. You can view
HSE guidance online and order priced publications from the website.
HSE priced publications are also available from bookshops.
British Standards can be obtained in PDF or hard copy formats from BSI:
http://shop.bsigroup.com or by contacting BSI Customer Services for hard
copies only Tel: 020 8996 9001 email: [email protected].
This guidance is issued by the Health and Safety Executive. Following the
guidance is not compulsory, unless specifically stated, and you are free to take
other action. But if you do follow the guidance you will normally be doing
enough to comply with the law. Health and safety inspectors seek to secure
compliance with the law and may refer to this guidance.
This leaflet is available at www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/waste13.htm.
© Crown copyright If you wish to reuse this information visit
www.hse.gov.uk/copyright.htm for details. First published 07/13
The Waste Industry Safety and Health (WISH) forum exists to communicate
and consult with key stakeholders, including local and national government
bodies, equipment manufacturers, trade associations, professional
associations and trade unions. The aim of WISH is to identify, devise and
promote activities that can improve industry health and safety
performance.
www.hse.gov.uk/waste/wish.htm
doc_205947444.pdf
The designer should ensure work equipment is suitable for its intended purpose. Where different machines are put together to form a process or line, the supplier and user should consider their interactions. You may need to consult someone with sufficient expertise in safety matters.
Page 1 of 9
Health and Safety
Executive
Designing and operating
material recovery facilities
(MRFs) safely
Waste 13(rev1)
Contents
Summary 2
Introduction 2
Assessing the risks 2
Workplace transport 3
Machinery 4
Ergonomics 4
Working environment for ‘pickers’ 5
Dust 5
Noise 6
Space and access 6
Welfare 6
Fire 7
References and further reading 8
Further information 9
Photograph courtesy of MK Group
Health and Safety
Executive
Designing and operating material recovery facilities (MRFs) safely Page 2 of 9
Summary
This guidance gives advice on the main health, safety and welfare issues at
material recovery facilities (MRFs).
The guidance is primarily aimed at designers/manufacturers, installers
and users involved in developing and operating MRFs, also sometimes
called material recycling or reclamation facilities.
It explains how to remove or reduce key general health and safety risks
associated with designing and operating an MRF. It includes advice about how
to assess hazards and provides solutions that will help eliminate or reduce the
risk of serious injury or ill health.
Introduction
1 This guidance was produced by the Health and Safety Executive in
consultation with Waste Industry Safety and Health Forum (WISH).
2 There has been an increase in the use of MRFs in the UK because of
changes in waste management operations. This guidance highlights the main
health and safety issues to consider when designing, installing, making
alterations to, or operating an MRF. It also provides guidance on welfare issues
in MRFs.
3 The guidance cannot cover every risk and is not comprehensive. It does
however identify other sources of information, but in some cases you may need
to refer to a health and safety professional.
4 Although it is primarily aimed at designers, managers, supervisors and users
of MRFs, it may also interest safety professionals who may advise waste
management companies and those working at such sites.
Assessing the risks
5 The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 require
employers and self-employed people to carry out a suitable and sufficient risk
assessment of their activities.
6 Your risk assessment will help you to:
?
identify the hazards that can cause harm;
?
identify who is at risk, eg workers, contractors, subcontractors, agency and
temporary workers, members of the public or visitors;
?
assess the risks from those hazards;
?
eliminate or reduce risks (by using appropriate control measures), so far as
is reasonably practicable;
?
record any significant findings.
Health and Safety
Executive
Designing and operating material recovery facilities (MRFs) safely Page 3 of 9
7 Your risk assessment should be regularly reviewed to ensure that any
control measures put in place remain effective. When reviewing, you should
consider the following:
?
Are there safe systems of work in place that reflect the risks associated with
the activities?
?
Do your employees follow those systems of work? If not, why not?
?
Are your systems adequate to control the risk? Do they need revising?
?
Are the procedures and checks you have put in place sufficient?
?
Do you need to do certain tasks more (or less) frequently?
?
Are there any changes to the working environment that might have an
impact?
8 This guidance gives information that will help you comply with the law, and
may be used to help with the risk assessment process. It is not, however, a
substitute for a suitable and sufficient site or task-specific risk assessment
based upon individual site conditions, layout, structure, the exact nature of the
activities, the types of waste material involved and other factors. For further
information about risk assessment, visit www.hse.gov.uk/risk.
Workplace transport
9 Transport operations associated with vehicle movements in MRFs represent
a risk of serious or fatal accidents to workers and others. Traffic routes for MRFs
(for both the site and its buildings) should be properly designed to permit safe
traffic movement. A risk assessment should be carried out for all workplace
transport activities. Consider each of the following:
?
Safe site:
? Is it organised so that pedestrians and vehicles are kept apart?
? Are vehicle and pedestrian traffic routes clearly marked and are signs
clearly visible?
? Are there site rules and are they enforced?
? Are reversing operations kept to a minimum?
?
Safe driver:
? Are they qualified and competent?
? Is their training up to date?
? Are they aware of their health and safety responsibilities?
? Do they have the correct personal protective equipment (PPE)?
?
Safe vehicle:
? Is it right for the job?
? Is it maintained, inspected and repaired regularly?
? Can it be accessed safely to minimise the need for work at height?
? Has it been fitted with any safety devices, eg mirror, CCTV, reversing
alarms, radar, flashing beacons?
10 You can find more information on HSE’s workplace transport website at
www.hse.gov.uk/workplacetransport. Guidance specifically for the waste
industry can be found in Safe transport in waste management and recycling
facilities
1
and Hand sorting of recyclables (‘totting’) with vehicle assistance.
2
Health and Safety
Executive
Designing and operating material recovery facilities (MRFs) safely Page 4 of 9
Machinery
11 The designer should ensure work equipment is suitable for its intended
purpose. Where different machines are put together to form a process or line,
the supplier and user should consider their interactions. You may need to
consult someone with sufficient expertise in safety matters (see Buying new
machinery
3
for guidance on this).
12 Carry out an assessment of the machinery in an MRF to ensure it is safe to
use. When choosing the appropriate safeguards, consider the following:
?
what guarding is appropriate:
? use fixed guards to enclose the dangerous parts, whenever practical.
They should be secured in place so they cannot be easily removed
without a tool (eg screws or nuts and bolts, Allen bolts etc);
? use perimeter guarding/fencing to enclose a number of machines.
(If perimeter fencing is fitted, the gap between the fence and the machine
should normally be sufficiently small to prevent anybody remaining in it
without being detected);
? if regular access to dangerous parts is essential (eg to clear blockages,
lubricate or clean), use moveable guards/gates fitted with interlocking
devices so that the machine cannot start before the guard is closed and
cannot be opened while the machine is still moving. These devices must
be designed and installed so that they are difficult or impossible to
bypass or defeat. Guidance on the selection and design of interlocking
devices is available from BS 1088-1:2008.
4
?
providing adequate emergency stop arrangements for moving machinery,
eg conveyor belts;
?
whether permit-to-work systems and effective isolation are required for
cleaning, blockage clearing or maintenance and repair operations (see HSE’s
safe maintenance website at www.hse.gov.uk/safemaintenance/permits.htm
for guidance on this);
?
machinery siting (especially access, lighting and maintenance arrangements)
and in particular:
? whether there is adequate access to maintenance points, eg lubrication
points so they can be reached from the ground or a secure working
platform rather than a ladder. Note that working platforms should have
adequate side protection and no open edges at platform level (eg the
benchmark should be at least that of guardrails and toeboards to the
standards found at scaffolding);
? adequate access to machinery that requires cleaning.
13 Further guidance can be found on HSE’s work equipment and machinery
website at www.hse.gov.uk/work-equipment-machinery and in Recover paper
safely: Guidance for the recovered paper industry.
5
Ergonomics
14 MRFs have specific ergonomic demands when workers are hand sorting
materials and you should consider these fully at the design stage.
?
Design picking conveyors so that the belt height and width do not require
excessive reaching or bending.
?
The line speed should not be too fast. Musculoskeletal risks from repetitive
arm movements and stress can result from excessive pick rates. Throughput
volume, types of items being picked and pick targets may also lead to
excessive pick rates.
Health and Safety
Executive
Designing and operating material recovery facilities (MRFs) safely Page 5 of 9
?
Line speeds that are too fast (>10 m/min) can also cause motion sickness.
?
Transfer points should not require operators to bend or twist excessively
when taking items from the belt and placing them in the transfer chute.
?
What types of materials operators are expected to throw – very light
materials require a lot of effort, very heavy materials can be tiring.
?
Avoid people having to stand on cold/hard floors with no facility to rest or
change position. Where it is advantageous, and reasonably practicable,
consider providing seats, foot bars and anti-fatigue insulated matting.
?
Provide adequate lighting of picking lines.
?
Do not expose operators to excessive vibration.
15 Further guidance is available in Upper limb disorders in the workplace,
6
Conveyor belt workstation design
7
and Ergonomics and human factors at work.
8
Working environment for ‘pickers’
16 It is preferable to provide proper isolated ‘picking cabins’, rather than to operate
from picking belts exposed to hazards from other parts of the process, such as:
?
noise;
?
moving vehicles;
?
tipping and loading operations;
?
excessive dust;
?
vibration.
Picking cabins provide a degree of isolation from these hazards and enable you
to provide economical heating for staff.
Dust
17 Segregating pickers from the general environment by providing picking cabins
also makes it easier to provide any necessary effective local exhaust ventilation to
deal with dust and bioaerosols. Some picking cabins have a separate ventilation
system of fresh air exchange or positive pressure to effectively prevent the entry
of dust and bioaerosols from any nearby tipping, screening or similar operations
that liberate dust into the atmosphere. Options you can consider include:
?
providing a suitably ventilated picking cabin;
?
providing local exhaust ventilation where required and good design of
general building ventilation to prevent any liberated dust accumulating in the
working atmosphere. Further guidance on the legal requirements and
practical methods for buying and using LEV to control airborne contaminents
at work can be found on HSE’s LEV webpages at www.hse.gov.uk/lev;
?
making sure the machinery design and location does not compromise
ventilation or expose operators to excessive noise;
?
providing suitable ventilation/air filtration fitted vehicles (particularly in the
tipping area);
?
providing facilities to enable rejection of heavily contaminated loads;
?
providing suitable cleaning equipment (ie using vacuum cleaners rather than
compressed air or manual sweeping which can create dust clouds).
18 You can find more guidance on the legal requirements and practical
methods for reducing exposure to dusts and bioaerosols on HSE’s waste
management and recycling website at www.hse.gov.uk/waste and on
HSE’s Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH) website
at www.hse.gov.uk/coshh.
Health and Safety
Executive
Designing and operating material recovery facilities (MRFs) safely Page 6 of 9
Noise
19 Noise is also a concern in MRFs. Items of machinery and operations which
produce noise should, so far as is reasonably practicable, be located and
operated away from where people are routinely required to work. Examples
include:
?
overband magnets;
?
eddy-current devices;
?
changes in conveyor direction/level (where one conveyor drops waste onto
another);
?
screens (vibrating, trommel etc).
20 Further guidance on the legal requirements and practical methods for
reducing noise exposure can be found on HSE’s noise at work website at
www.hse.gov.uk/noise.
Space and access
21 Consider the following when assessing space and access in an MRF:
?
Provide sufficient space for, and suitable access to, storage areas.
?
Provide suitable access to high-level operating areas. For example try to
avoid access steps to working stations that are excessively steep, or
elevated working platforms that need to be accessed by vertical ladders, or
having insufficient headroom above the working station.
?
Provide storage that can accommodate periods when materials cannot be
moved from site, or as capacity increases.
?
Design pick-up and drop points to make sorting materials easy.
?
Provide adequate fixed access and space for cleaning, blockage clearing,
materials observation, repair and maintenance operations.
?
Provide adequate space for fire escapes.
?
Avoid blind bends where possible; where you cannot avoid them, consider
measures such as mirrors to help drivers and pedestrians see what is round
the corner.
?
Provide separate vehicle and pedestrian access points to buildings and
operational areas to ensure pedestrian/vehicle separation.
?
Provide suitable storage space for staff to keep their PPE and other
essential items (respirators, gloves, vacuum cleaners etc) clean.
Welfare
22 In MRFs there are important environmental and welfare considerations.
?
Provide a ‘reasonable’ working temperature at workstations. Where the work
involves severe physical effort, the temperature should be at least 13°C, and
at least 16°C otherwise.
?
Provide adequate lighting. Good lighting is less fatiguing for staff and also
makes tasks easier to perform (eg better waste segregation, faster blockage
clearance, meaning less plant downtime etc).
?
Floor materials should be suitable and fit for purpose. In MRFs, they should
be durable enough for the work carried out, and minimise the slip/trip risks.
Also, remember that open steel gridwork is not always the preferred option,
as it can make the consequences of any fall more severe. Consider anti-
fatigue flooring materials where a substantial part of the work is done
standing.
Health and Safety
Executive
Designing and operating material recovery facilities (MRFs) safely Page 7 of 9
?
Consider the quality and location of toilet and washing facilities. They should
also be designed to be easily cleaned because of the amount of waste, dust
and other residues that will be deposited.
?
Good personal hygiene is vital for waste and recycling workers, to prevent
infections and other ill health that may be caused by working with waste.
?
Provide suitable personal protective equipment such as gloves, when skin is
likely to become contaminated.
?
Advise workers who handle waste to wash their hands before eating and
drinking, and before wearing gloves.
?
Provide adequate education and training to ensure workers understand the
importance of hygiene and use the facilities that are available.
?
Consider having a reporting system for ill health complaints to help analyse
sickness absence.
23 Further guidance is available in the HSE leaflets Workplace health, safety
and welfare: A short guide for managers,
9
Stay clean – stay healthy: Looking
after your health in the waste/recycling industry
10
and HSE’s skin at work
website at www.hse.gov.uk/skin.
Fire
24 There is a risk of fire in MRFs, and this risk can increase depending on the
type of materials processed and how they are processed. For example:
?
paper and timber can ignite readily;
?
plastics and rubber give off toxic smoke;
?
some materials can become explosive if in a fine condition (eg certain
dusts).
25 Sources of ignition can include:
?
poorly installed and/or maintained electrical equipment that can spark or
overheat;
?
poorly installed and/or maintained mechanical equipment, such as bearings,
that can overheat;
?
smoking;
?
batteries and accumulators;
?
‘tramp’ metal that finds its way into moving machinery and causes localised
‘hot spots’. Prevent metal getting into moving machinery by pre-sorting and/
or extraction by a magnet/eddy current separator, especially when ignitable
or explosive materials are present;
?
poorly controlled hot work (welding, burning etc). Where there are flammable
materials, risk assess hot work and put effective measures into place to
reduce the risk of fire. You may need to carry out hot work under a rigorous
permit-to-work system;
?
some materials, such as rubber crumb, have been reported to have ignited
spontaneously (see Spontaneous heating of piled tyre shred and rubber
crumb – Briefing note at www.hse.gov.uk/rubber/spontaneous.htm). Paper
and other cellulose-based materials have reportedly been known to self-
heat, and have even ignited where stocks are so large that the heat cannot
radiate safely. The product trade associations for these materials may be
able to provide you with further guidance on precautions.
Health and Safety
Executive
Designing and operating material recovery facilities (MRFs) safely Page 8 of 9
References and further reading
References
1 Safe transport in waste management and recycling facilities Waste09 HSE
Books 2004 www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/waste09.htm
2 Hand sorting of recyclables (‘totting’) with vehicle assistance Waste18(rev1)
HSE Books 2012 www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/waste18.htm
3 Buying new machinery: A short guide to the law and your responsibilities
when buying new machinery for use at work Leaflet INDG271(rev1) HSE Books
2011 www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg271.htm
4 BS EN 1088:1995+A2:2008 Safety of machinery. Interlocking devices
associated with guards. Principles for design and selection British Standards
Institution
5 Recover paper safely: Guidance for the recovered paper industry Leaflet
INDG392 HSE Books 2004 www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg392.htm
6 Upper limb disorders in the workplace HSG60 (Second edition) HSE Books
2002 ISBN 978 0 7176 1978 8 www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/books/hsg60.htm
7 Conveyor belt workstation design General Information Sheet GEIS4 HSE
Books 2012 www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/geis4.htm
8 Ergonomics and human factors at work: A brief guide Leaflet INDG90(rev3)
HSE Books 2012 www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg90.htm
9 Workplace health, safety and welfare: A short guide for managers Leaflet
INDG244(rev2) HSE Books 2007 www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg44.htm
10 Stay clean – stay healthy. Looking after your health in the waste/recycling
industry INDG415 HSE Books 2007 www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg415.htm
Further reading
HSE materials recovery facility website www.hse.gov.uk/waste/mrf.htm
HSE waste website www.hse.gov.uk/waste
HSE transport website www.hse.gov.uk/workplacetransport/index.htm
Controlling fire and explosion risks in the workplace: A brief guide to the
Dangerous Substances and Explosive Atmospheres Regulations Leaflet
INDG370(rev1) HSE Books 2013 www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg370.htm
Fire and explosion risks from pentane in expandable polystyrene (EPS) HSE
Books 1998 www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/PPS1.htm
(Advice about fire-fighting equipment, means of escape etc is available from
your local fire authority)
Managing offensive/hygiene waste Waste22 HSE Books 2009
www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/waste22.htm
Health and Safety
Executive
Published by the Health and Safety Executive 07/13 WASTE13(rev1) Page 9 of 9
Providing and using work equipment safely: A brief guide to the law Leaflet
INDG291(rev1) HSE Books 2012 www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg291.htm
Safe working with flammable substances Leaflet INDG227 HSE Books 1996
www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg227.htm
Safe use of work equipment. Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations
1998. Approved Code of Practice and guidance L22 (Third edition) HSE Books
2008 ISBN 978 0 7176 6295 1 www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/books/l22.htm
Workplace transport safety: A brief guide Leaflet INDG199(rev2)
HSE Books 2012 www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg199.htm
Workplace transport safety: An employers’ guide HSG136 (Second edition)
HSE Books 2005 ISBN 978 0 7176 6154 1
www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/books/hsg136.htm
Further information
For information about health and safety, or to report inconsistencies or
inaccuracies in this guidance, visit www.hse.gov.uk. You can view
HSE guidance online and order priced publications from the website.
HSE priced publications are also available from bookshops.
British Standards can be obtained in PDF or hard copy formats from BSI:
http://shop.bsigroup.com or by contacting BSI Customer Services for hard
copies only Tel: 020 8996 9001 email: [email protected].
This guidance is issued by the Health and Safety Executive. Following the
guidance is not compulsory, unless specifically stated, and you are free to take
other action. But if you do follow the guidance you will normally be doing
enough to comply with the law. Health and safety inspectors seek to secure
compliance with the law and may refer to this guidance.
This leaflet is available at www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/waste13.htm.
© Crown copyright If you wish to reuse this information visit
www.hse.gov.uk/copyright.htm for details. First published 07/13
The Waste Industry Safety and Health (WISH) forum exists to communicate
and consult with key stakeholders, including local and national government
bodies, equipment manufacturers, trade associations, professional
associations and trade unions. The aim of WISH is to identify, devise and
promote activities that can improve industry health and safety
performance.
www.hse.gov.uk/waste/wish.htm
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