Streetsafe Sam to keep waste management workers safe in the UK

Energy & Utility Skills (EU Skills) and Veolia Environmental Services Waste have created a new module in a series of interactive health and safety CDs for workers in the UK waste industry. Waste management is the UK's most dangerous industry with the rate of workplace accidents around five times the national average, and the new training program - featuring a character called Streetsafe Sam - aims to combat this problem. Module 3 deals with Commercial & Industrial Dry Waste Collection and follows CDs that dealt with domestic waste collection and civic amenity sites.Richard Johnson, Head of Development, EU Skills, says: 'Most health and safety training initiatives are generic and fail to replicate the every day situations that waste management operatives face. 'To combat the alarmingly high rate of accidents and fatalities in waste management, the industry needs to discard the "one size fits all" approach to training and instead engage individuals with interactive courses that are tailored to their specific requirements. 'We are very pleased that Veolia came onboard to share their cutting-edge training techniques in this new installment of Streetsafe Sam.' Paul Thornber, Health and Safety Manager for Veolia Environmental Services says, 'Health and safety is an issue that affects every one of us in our daily lives. Our priorities are, to ensure the health, safety and continued wellbeing of our employees and to minimise the effect of our operations on other people and the environment. 'The waste management industry has thousands of operatives working in various fields and the interactive C.D Roms featuring Streetsafe Sam are a great way of getting simple, key health and safety messages to all these men and women across the country. We are firm believers in this meaningful type of education and were happy to support EU Skills in the development of previous modules and to play a leading role in the funding of this particular one.'