The head of the National Waste & Recycling Association (NWRA), Washington, an organization providing leadership, advocacy, research, education and safety expertise for the waste and recycling industries, has called into action greater safety efforts for the industries.
Sharon Kneiss, president and CEO of NWRA, tells Recycling Today the association has recognized its need to “step up our game to offer the kind of tools and assistance that members need to address the challenges we’re having in the safety area.”
Kneiss explains how addressing safety should be accomplished through strong efforts, tools and best practices on how to take on safety in businesses in addition to helping other NWRA members.
“We looked at some of the efforts we have ongoing and realized it’s beyond slogans,” Kneiss says, adding, “We need to take some strong action on safety in order to have the greatest impact for this terrific industry.”
Kneiss’ comments come after the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) issued in September its annual update on fatalities by industry, ranking the waste and recycling sector as the fifth most dangerous industry. In October, the BLS reported a year-over-year increase in recordable injuries and illnesses in this sector.
“We talk with our safety people all the time and they know the importance of making sure workers come home safe every day and I know they communicate that to their workers,” Kneiss says.
Kneiss notes that NWRA is beginning the initiation of its strategic planning, which the association will complete at the end of this year. NWRA had a “very intense discussion” with leaders of the organization about its strategy going forward and “safety was clearly one of those areas where we need strategic focus,” Kneiss says.
Nearly 50 members make up NWRA’s Safety Committee. Kneiss says this group has been and will continue to work on offering new initiatives and information on safety. One effort involves safety education and tools that “can be best used by the audience that needs to use them,” Kneiss says. The first of these efforts will be a series of short online videos for coaching the refuse driver. “They need to be short and to the point,” she says.
In addition to new ideas, Kneiss points to current safety programs offered to recycling and waste workers, such as NWRA’s Safety Monday. A weekly safety newsletter that offers tips, Safety Monday is used as a tool by member companies as part of their safety awareness and training effort.
“One of our best tools right now is Safety Monday,” Kneiss says, adding, “and the members really look forward to it because it is a strong safety message.”
She says groups such as the Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA), Silver Spring, Maryland, make use of Safety Monday’s weekly tips.
SWANA recently introduced its Safety Ambassador initiative at the chapter level, promoting individuals who will serve as a local resource on safety and compliance-related information for other members. Kneiss says NWRA will “absolutely” work with SWANA and other organizations to partner on “how we really deliver the greatest value on safety.”
While NWRA is finalizing plans for its March 9-10, 2016, summit that will bring together industry safety leaders, Kneiss says it is at this event that NWRA plans to unveil its finalized comprehensive strategy on safety. Location, speakers and other event details have yet to be planned for the summit.
Kneiss says of NWRA’s summit, “We believe if we can bring a diverse safety committee to the table, we can come out with a strong strategy that we can implement. That strategy is going to look at where we are going to be in one year and also a three-year plan.”
Kneiss’ call into action can be read in its entirety below:
It’s Time for New Action on Safety
Safety is a core principle of NWRA and a strategic and vital focus of our work. The safety challenges our industry faces call for bold new actions if we are to reverse the current trends and have a positive impact on reducing fatalities, injuries and accidents. And we are taking action.
In September, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported that waste and recycling collection ranks fifth for fatalities again this year. While fatalities in 2014 were down from 2013 they remain a significant concern and from our own data collection we are not seeing any improvement in 2015 statistics. Furthermore, our industry is grappling with the nationwide epidemic of accidents and fatalities being caused by distracted driving. In October, the BLS reported a year-over-year increase in recordable injuries and illnesses in our sector. And later this week, BLS will report its data for the private and public sector waste and remediation sector on nonfatal injuries and illnesses that result in missed work days. Despite our collective best efforts, the data from BLS and the more recent data we have been collecting and analyzing tell us its time for new approaches and new action if we are to see real improvement in safety rates.
For the past several years, we have undertaken several initiatives focused on safety. There are areas where we have had some success in championing policies and technologies to help reduce the risk to our industry’s employees. For example, we have successfully passed Slow Down to Get Around in 10 states and we continue our efforts for passage in additional states. And the private waste and recycling industry has led the way in the adoption of new technologies to create safer work environments, with the help of our supplier members who deliver innovations such as in-cab camera solutions, radar and advanced personal protective equipment, to name a few. However, it is clear from the recent data that these worthwhile efforts by themselves are not enough.
Our NWRA Safety Committee has brought together the best minds on safety from across our member companies, with participants from large and small member companies, from haulers and suppliers, and they have been actively engaged in laying the necessary foundation for a comprehensive and impactful strategy that will deliver results. The work of the Safety Committee and its subcommittees is ongoing. We each owe the members participating and performing this hard work our continued support and appreciation. I am pleased to report that the NWRA Safety Committee had its most recent meetings last week, and you can expect to see and hear more about the results of their efforts with new initiatives and information in the coming weeks and months:
Sharon Kneiss, president and CEO of NWRA, tells Recycling Today the association has recognized its need to “step up our game to offer the kind of tools and assistance that members need to address the challenges we’re having in the safety area.”
Kneiss explains how addressing safety should be accomplished through strong efforts, tools and best practices on how to take on safety in businesses in addition to helping other NWRA members.
“We looked at some of the efforts we have ongoing and realized it’s beyond slogans,” Kneiss says, adding, “We need to take some strong action on safety in order to have the greatest impact for this terrific industry.”
Kneiss’ comments come after the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) issued in September its annual update on fatalities by industry, ranking the waste and recycling sector as the fifth most dangerous industry. In October, the BLS reported a year-over-year increase in recordable injuries and illnesses in this sector.
“We talk with our safety people all the time and they know the importance of making sure workers come home safe every day and I know they communicate that to their workers,” Kneiss says.
Kneiss notes that NWRA is beginning the initiation of its strategic planning, which the association will complete at the end of this year. NWRA had a “very intense discussion” with leaders of the organization about its strategy going forward and “safety was clearly one of those areas where we need strategic focus,” Kneiss says.
Nearly 50 members make up NWRA’s Safety Committee. Kneiss says this group has been and will continue to work on offering new initiatives and information on safety. One effort involves safety education and tools that “can be best used by the audience that needs to use them,” Kneiss says. The first of these efforts will be a series of short online videos for coaching the refuse driver. “They need to be short and to the point,” she says.
In addition to new ideas, Kneiss points to current safety programs offered to recycling and waste workers, such as NWRA’s Safety Monday. A weekly safety newsletter that offers tips, Safety Monday is used as a tool by member companies as part of their safety awareness and training effort.
“One of our best tools right now is Safety Monday,” Kneiss says, adding, “and the members really look forward to it because it is a strong safety message.”
She says groups such as the Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA), Silver Spring, Maryland, make use of Safety Monday’s weekly tips.
SWANA recently introduced its Safety Ambassador initiative at the chapter level, promoting individuals who will serve as a local resource on safety and compliance-related information for other members. Kneiss says NWRA will “absolutely” work with SWANA and other organizations to partner on “how we really deliver the greatest value on safety.”
While NWRA is finalizing plans for its March 9-10, 2016, summit that will bring together industry safety leaders, Kneiss says it is at this event that NWRA plans to unveil its finalized comprehensive strategy on safety. Location, speakers and other event details have yet to be planned for the summit.
Kneiss says of NWRA’s summit, “We believe if we can bring a diverse safety committee to the table, we can come out with a strong strategy that we can implement. That strategy is going to look at where we are going to be in one year and also a three-year plan.”
Kneiss’ call into action can be read in its entirety below:
It’s Time for New Action on Safety
Safety is a core principle of NWRA and a strategic and vital focus of our work. The safety challenges our industry faces call for bold new actions if we are to reverse the current trends and have a positive impact on reducing fatalities, injuries and accidents. And we are taking action.
In September, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported that waste and recycling collection ranks fifth for fatalities again this year. While fatalities in 2014 were down from 2013 they remain a significant concern and from our own data collection we are not seeing any improvement in 2015 statistics. Furthermore, our industry is grappling with the nationwide epidemic of accidents and fatalities being caused by distracted driving. In October, the BLS reported a year-over-year increase in recordable injuries and illnesses in our sector. And later this week, BLS will report its data for the private and public sector waste and remediation sector on nonfatal injuries and illnesses that result in missed work days. Despite our collective best efforts, the data from BLS and the more recent data we have been collecting and analyzing tell us its time for new approaches and new action if we are to see real improvement in safety rates.
For the past several years, we have undertaken several initiatives focused on safety. There are areas where we have had some success in championing policies and technologies to help reduce the risk to our industry’s employees. For example, we have successfully passed Slow Down to Get Around in 10 states and we continue our efforts for passage in additional states. And the private waste and recycling industry has led the way in the adoption of new technologies to create safer work environments, with the help of our supplier members who deliver innovations such as in-cab camera solutions, radar and advanced personal protective equipment, to name a few. However, it is clear from the recent data that these worthwhile efforts by themselves are not enough.
Our NWRA Safety Committee has brought together the best minds on safety from across our member companies, with participants from large and small member companies, from haulers and suppliers, and they have been actively engaged in laying the necessary foundation for a comprehensive and impactful strategy that will deliver results. The work of the Safety Committee and its subcommittees is ongoing. We each owe the members participating and performing this hard work our continued support and appreciation. I am pleased to report that the NWRA Safety Committee had its most recent meetings last week, and you can expect to see and hear more about the results of their efforts with new initiatives and information in the coming weeks and months:
- a best practices recommendation for post-collection facilities, will be published in the next two to three weeks;
- the committee will issue its best practices for on-board camera technology in early 2016;
- tools for addressing truck fires will be issued in the coming months;
- as the designated Secretariat for ANSI Standards for our industry for more than 50 years, we coordinate all industry efforts for the ongoing development of new standards for both equipment and protective gear;
- we are working with the chapters to develop safety programs and tools which we will deliver directly at the chapter level;
- an industrywide “Stand Down” to focus on hazards related to backing is planned in the first quarter of 2016, you will receive details with instructions on how to participate shortly after the first of the year; and
- we have outlined an intensified effort to develop safety education and tools in a format most useful for industry employees. The first of these efforts will be a series of short, easy to access online videos for coaching the refuse driver.
In addition to this ongoing work, we are convening a summit in March to bring the safety leaders of our industry together to collectively review all of the information that has been collected by the Committee on every aspect safety performance, develop the strategic path for future efforts and put together a strong program with clear performance measures for the next three years. Working together, as well as with experts from outside of our industry, we will finalize and implement a comprehensive strategy to ensure that our efforts are focused on the direct improvement of safety performance industrywide.
A few months ago, I wrote to you about the new three year NWRA strategic plan developed and adopted by our Board of Trustees. First and foremost in that plan is a fundamental core commitment to safety in which we all have a critical stake. As a part of the strategic plan review, we also examined the effectiveness of our existing safety programs. Our energies and our actions must be focused on those strategies that can make a difference.
What can you do to help and make a difference? You can make sure that you are getting NWRA safety information to the right people in your company or organization, and encourage them to participate in the ongoing dialogue and information sharing taking place with the Safety Committee. You can make sure Safety Monday and the information coming from NWRA on safety is getting to the right people and facilities in your company. And, of course, you can look for every opportunity in your role within your company to promote and advance best safety practices.
In recent weeks, there has been a lot of talk about safety. Let me be clear: NWRA does not believe that improvements in safety performance will come from press releases, empty slogans, bumper stickers or platitudes without plans. Improvements will come from well-thought out strategies and programs and will be driven by solid data, rigorous analysis, planning and measurement in order to achieve the greatest benefit for the men and women who serve on the front lines of our industry every day. Those men and women deserve nothing less than focused new actions on the best approaches to help ensure their safety, and we will not fail them.
- Sharon Kneiss
NWRA most recently addressed safety and detailed resources the association offers to help protect waste and recycling workers on the road and in the material recovery facility (MRF) in the November 2015 Recycling Today article, “Ensuring safety,” which can be read at www.recyclingtoday.com/article/rt1115-NWRA-safety-resources.aspx.
NWRA most recently addressed safety and detailed resources the association offers to help protect waste and recycling workers on the road and in the material recovery facility (MRF) in the November 2015 Recycling Today article, “Ensuring safety,” which can be read at www.recyclingtoday.com/article/rt1115-NWRA-safety-resources.aspx.
