Radio Communication

 It is my belief that Communication has to be a culture on any waste/recycling site. How do you do this?

Again the pointers in this article are a talking point and or assistance. This is not a best practice preach more points that have come up in my career so far 

Clear and concise communication to the site on a daily basis, now this can be done at the start of end of the day. This will help allocate workload evenly to ensure not one particular area gets overwhelmed.

In line with other safety devices that are checked daily (proximity sensors and “safetech” belts), each individual on site has a radio, this should include enough to cover 3rd parties. The habit is for people when entering a production area either through a door/shutter in plant or walking should notify the site prior to leaving the office but also re iterate before entering that specific area. There are many ways this can be done

• Allocation of a radio per person inc sign out sheet
• Name/Number  pedestrian doors that people reference when entering buildings
• Name/Number roller shutter doors that people reference when entering buildings
• Reference site rules with this information
• Reference specific RAMs and SSOW with this information
• Ensure that all 3rd parties are issued a radio and the rules explained to them

Believe me it is a monotonous task, but one worth pursuing. We as leaders have to do things right and expect our staff to tell us if we are not. I believe it to be the only way to make it common practise on waste sites.

In difficult built-up areas or quarry environments the right equipment for coverage is a required to reduce the interference that often occurs, specific frequencies requiring a licence can be applies for and used or alternatively - signal boosters

Try to think differently on application of new rules such as this , communication isn’t only verbal. We had some unused safety lights on site, these were converted to go off once a button at the weighbridge was pressed. Often in our sector with a the machinery working, hearing can be difficult but the idea is to have multiple layers of commination. Once pressed an orange light is illuminated within the building showing that a vehicle is on the weighbridge and is going to the agreed location. There is also a red light that is illuminated by the loader if we are loading a container internally, this allows anyone in the warehouse to see that we are loading a container and to stay away from that area.  We have found that this has been very successful to date.

How do you communicate on site? What best practices do you have to share?