Victory For Health And Safety In Valpak And Keenan’s National Commitment Sign Up

The latest organisations to show they are serious about health and safety, Valpak and Keenan’s Recycling, have gained approval from Scotland’s Resource Sector Commitment Health and Safety Standards.

The commitment, which is operated by Zero Waste Scotland and backed by the Scottish Government, is a kite mark for quality in the waste and resources sector. The voluntary agreement is open to local authorities, private resource management firms and third sector organisations involved in waste collections from businesses.

It was launched in 2014 to promote continuous customer service improvement and encourage signatories to help customers cut waste and become more resource efficient. It was expanded earlier this year to include standards that allowed signatories to show their commitment to health and safety, with Valpak and Keenan’s joining Moray Council in gaining these additional standards.

Charlie Devine, head of Resource Management at Zero Waste Scotland and Chair of the Scottish Waste Industry Training Competency and Health & Safety (SWITCH) Forum said:

“I’m delighted to announce that Valpak and Keenan’s Recycling are the latest organisations to meet the health and safety standards of the commitment.”

The commitment aims to play its part in raising awareness and competency levels of health and safety with in our industry.

“Alongside the SWITCH Forum, which is working with the sector to raise standards, it forms an important part of Zero Waste Scotland’s work to make health and safety practices more than just a simple tick box exercise.”

Grant Keenan, Managing Director, Keenan Recycling said:

“It has always been a focus of Keenan Recycling to ensure we are at the forefront of health and safety. We work in a dangerous industry so it is hugely important that we care for the wellbeing of our staff to ensure that they are always operating in a safe working environment.

“Our commitment to this industry health and safety standard demonstrates our support to Zero Waste Scotland and the Scottish Government in making the waste and resource industry safe across all sectors. The whole industry needs to be more focussed on health and safety and this national commitment is a step in the right direction towards improving standards for the future.”

Steve Gough, CEO of Valpak said:

“Valpak views health and safety as one of the biggest challenges facing our sector today. We fully support the work of SWITCH and the forums objectives to provide leadership and raise standards of health and safety as well as education, training and competence in the sector. We seek to manage our responsibilities under health and safety through our OHSAS 18001 certification by using it to identify risks and improve performance on an on-going basis.

“We will continue to work hard in this area to ensure that management of health and safety risks, education, training and staff competence is maintained and improved and we will seek to ensure those we work with achieve similar standards and set equal objectives to make a real difference in this sector.”

Signatories to the health and safety standards of the commitment must demonstrate how they meet various elements including preventing injuries, improving wellbeing of staff, demonstrating senior management support, and contributing to sharing best practice across the sector.