Wheeled loading shovels in waste and recycling

11 November 2021

The Health & Safety Executive (“HSE”) and Office of the Traffic Commissioner (“OTC”) have both issued information in recent days relating to the operation of wheeled loading shovels.

This is because there have been nine fatal vehicle-pedestrian collisions in the past four years involving wheeled loading shovels – six of these were in the waste and recycling sector while the remainder involved wood chip.

Some were due to poor forward visibility, while others resulted from reversing. Larger capacity buckets had been fitted to some machines, further reducing forward visibility.

The HSE safety notice reminds duty holders who use these machines of the need to fully assess and actively manage the risk of vehicle-pedestrian collisions.

The Traffic Commissioners have reminded the industry of their own expectations that operators ensure they have regard to guidance and advice issued on the safety of their operation and that risk is properly assessed and the measures taken by operators align to the available advice.

The full HSE safety notice can be found at Wheeled loading shovels in waste and recycling – HSE

For further advice or assistance, contact the Regulatory team on 01254 828300 or Regulatory@backhouses.co.uk