The Waste Industry Safety and Health Forum (WISH) has published guidance entitled ‘Reducing Fire Risk at Waste Management Sites’ in conjunction with a number of prominent industry bodies including the Environmental Services Association (ESA) and the Health & Safety Executive (HSE).
The aim is to provide operators with the guidance, information and standards to reduce the likelihood and frequency of fires, and reduce the environmental and health impacts of fires. The guidance is intended to be flexible, allowing managers to tailor risk management to their specific requirements.
The Environment Agency (EA) has issued a statement in the document saying: “The EA recognises that the WISH guidance provides a range of tools, techniques and advice to minimise the impact of fires on the environment and local community. However, it does not replace regulatory guidance and following it does not remove the need to comply with any statutory requirements.” Therefore, managers will only be able to review their current fire risk management procedure, in line with the new WISH guidance, so long as they still comply with the regulatory guidance published by the EA, which hinders the flexibility of the new approach.
The guidance provides a three option approach to fire risk management for both internal and external storage areas, dependent upon the level of fire management and suppression facilities available at the site.
This new document should be used as a umbrella document as it covers advice applicable to a wide range of waste management and similar sites, and should be read in conjunction with industry guidance and regulatory documents. If you have any questions or require assistance in applying this guidance, please contact us by telephone on 01480 462232 or by email at info@wisergroup.co.uk.
The guidance follows a consultation earlier this year. Download a copy of the WISH Guidance.