WISH Guidance.

One of the main outputs from WISH is health and safety guidance for the waste management industry.  This formal guidance is produced by WISH working groups consisting of industry specialists and others from bodies such as the HSE.  A list of current WISH guidance is given below (click on the guidance reference to download).

In addition to formal guidance, WISH also produces information documents and other tools and resources.  These resources can be found by clicking on the ‘resources‘ tab above.  Under this tab you will find three further pages:

  • Case Studies: Examples of good practice from across the industry
  • Information: Information sheets on various aspects of health and safety in the waste management industry, but not related directly to any formal WISH guidance document.  These are not formal guidance, but aim to assist waste operators in improving their health and safety performance
  • Support: Information sheets directly related to specific WISH guidance documents.  These information sheets may provide examples of good practice relating to a form WISH guidance document, or further information to assist operators in understanding or applying formal WISH guidance.  These information sheets are often referred to directly in the relevant WISH guidance document they relate to

WISH is not the only source of health and safety guidance for the waste management industry.  There are other sources, in particular in the HSE’s waste management pages.

List of WISH Guidance Documents

Ref No.Document titleSummary
WASTE 03Orphaned compressed gas cylinders in waste and recycling industriesWaste gas cylinders occur in waste streams, whether allowed or not. Safety when removing from waste streams and storing waste gas cylinders.
WASTE 04Waste and recycling vehicles in street collectionWorkplace transport remains a significant cause of death and serious injury in the waste and recycling sector. This new version of WASTE04 includes: revised text (2.1.2) concerning hand brake alarms and a new section (2.5) aimed at preventing vehicle rollaway/driveaway incidents, which have resulted in a number of fatalities in recent years; plus a new section 2.4 explicitly establishing that ride on platforms, which are responsible for multiple deaths every year elsewhere in the world, are not to be used in the UK.
WASTE 06Skip and container safety in waste management and recyclingSafety in design, use and selection of vehicle hoists/lifts and containers for wheeled waste containers
WASTE 08Compaction equipment: User and public safetySafety issues with the use and location of waste compactor equipment, including on customer sites and where the public may have access
WASTE 09Safe transport in the waste management and recycling industrySafe traffic management on waste management sites. Note – on-site issues only and not traffic safety on the public highway
WASTE 10The safe recovery of petrol from end-of-life vehiclesSafety issues when recovering petrol during the dismantling of end-of-life vehicles
WASTE 11Safety at ‘bring-sites’ in the waste management and recycling industrySafety issues at ‘bring-sites’ (typically unattended waste container areas in public places, such as bottle and paper banks)
WASTE 13Designing and operating material recycling facilities (MRFs) safelyBasics of safe design and operation of recycling facilities (MRF – materials recycling facility)
WASTE 16Reducing noise risks from kerbside glass collectionBasics of reducing the risk of hearing loss during glass collections, including design, hearing protection, occupational health monitoring and training
WASTE 18Hand sorting of recyclables (‘totting’) with vehicle assistanceDesign of locations, operating safety and other safety issues associated with the high-risk activity of manual picking from the floor (‘totting’)
WASTE 21Health and safety training in waste management and recyclingPlanning and delivering safety training for waste management activities, including key areas for training to cover
WASTE 22Handling offensive/hygiene waste safelyWhat is offensive hygiene waste, and how to protect employees, including specialised collection etc of such wastes and in general waste activities
WASTE 23Safe waste and recycling collection servicesSafe collection of municipal (household etc) wastes, including client issues and management of task-and-finish operations
WASTE 24Highway cleansing – issue 2 October 2020Safety in street and road cleansing activities, including litter picking from the sides of roads and traffic hazads
WASTE 25Managing access to large waste and recycling binsSafety issues associated with ‘sleepers in bins’ and similar, including management of access to waste containers
WASTE 26Managing health and safety in civic amenity sites. Updated April 2024overview of safety issues at civic amenity sites (also commonly called household recycling centres and similar)
WASTE 27Health and hazardous substances in waste and recycling. Common health hazards while collecting and sorting wastes, including exposure to hazardous substances and biological hazards
WASTE 28Reducing fire risk at waste management sitesManaging fire safety during the reception, treatment (processing) and storage of solid combustible wastes
WASTE 29Practical isolation and lock off guidanceMachinery safety accidents are now the most common cause of fatalities on GB waste and recycling sites, and there is little sign of improvement. Research indicates that a failure to securely isolate and lock-off is a primary cause of 80% of fatal machinery accidents. This new WASTE 29 guidance on the practical aspects of isolation and lock-off for recycling and recovery machinery replaces WISH’s previous information sheet, INFO 02, on the same topic. WASTE 29 expands on INFO 02 and gives more specific and waste and recycling focussed advice and has the status of formal HSE approved guidance.
WASTE 30Health surveillance for the waste and recycling industry.
Health surveillance for the waste and recycling industry.
WASTE 32Containment wall safety issue.
WASTE 33Principles of machinery safety – recycling & recovery plants