NYC Releases Trade Waste Safety Manual
The 54-page manual includes sections on topics such as traffic and road safety on the collection route, proper lifting technique while collecting, personal protective equipment, and vehicle inspection.
The City of New York Business Integrity Commission (BIC) has released a free "Trade Waste Safety Manual." The regulatory authority hopes that companies can use the voluntary manual to evaluate and improve their own waste collection safety practices.
BIC Commissioner Dan Brownell said the idea for the manual stemmed from a stakeholder meeting as a way to create change more quickly than waiting through the multi-year process of hiring consultants and waiting for potential legislation.
"With regard to improving safety in the industry, well, that's really something that can be very much separate from consultants," Brownell said. "Improving safety in a very dangerous industry, in a densely populated city, is something that we should be working together on and using the terrific resources of a group of stakeholders like that from every side of the trade waste industry."
The 54-page manual includes sections on topics such as traffic and road safety on the collection route, proper lifting technique while collecting, personal protective equipment, and vehicle inspection.
BIC is now working on short training videos to highlight sections of the manual and is pursuing rule changes. Legal details are still in assessment, but could include mandatory adoption of the manual and tighter regulations on driving hours.