Waste and recycling groups collaborate on New York City safety event

The National Waste & Recycling Association (NWRA), Washington, has announced the launch of a first-of-its-kind symposium on industry safety taking place on Thursday, June 16, 2016, at 100 Church St. in New York City. The program, which was developed by NWRA and the Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA), will run from 8:30 a.m. until 1 p.m. and features a continental breakfast sponsored by SWANA’s New York State Chapter and a lunch session sponsored by Action Environmental Group, Newark, New Jersey.

The symposium offers four sessions covering timely issues in the waste and recycling industry:

• Managing Distractions: Drivers, Pedestrians and Unexpected Events;
• The 10 Things Drivers Need to Know to Improve Safety;
• Safety Culture: Everyone has one, but how do you Make it an Innovative and Good one?; and
• Safety Behaviors: Using Technology, Techniques and Experiences to Improve Safety Behaviors at all Levels of Industry Operations.

Panels at each session will feature safety experts both from inside the industry as well as from other fields that have successfully overcome safety challenges in similar environments. Experts from Coca Cola, AT&T, Fresh Direct, DCAS/Vision Zero, Lytx Drive Cam, Concorde, SWANA, NWRA and others will lead thought-provoking dialogue aimed on educating participants on how to make waste and recycling collection safer. Councilman Antonio Reynoso is scheduled to provide remarks during the luncheon portion of the event.

NWRA says it has made safety its top priority, a pledge shared by its member companies. This symposium is designed to provide participating companies with the tools, guidance and support necessary to move the needle on safety incidents.

“NWRA, its members and partners in this symposium are committed to safety. This is one of multiple efforts NWRA is leading to move the needle on safety in our industry for our workers and the communities we serve," says NWRA President and CEO Sharon Kneiss.

This symposium comes on the heels of the NWRA Stand Down series that brought together more than 65 percent of the industry for two weeks (one in January and the second in May) of education, discussion and resource sharing to reduce backing and heat related incidents.

“SWANA is excited to partner with NWRA to improve safety awareness among New York City carters and their drivers.  It will take joint efforts such as this one to reduce accidents and injuries involving waste collection vehicles and get the industry off the list of ten most dangerous occupations,” says David Biderman, SWANA executive director.

This event is sponsored in part by Action Environmental Group, an active member of the NWRA New York City Chapter dedicated to improving industry safety.

“Action is pleased to join in any effort that promotes awareness and improves safety in the industry,” says Action Environmental Group CEO Ronald Bergamini. “We strongly maintain that that ideas to improve safety are not proprietary. The public demands nothing less.”

Additional details about the symposium can be found at https://wasterecycling.org/our-work/safety.

As the designated Secretariat for ANSI Standards for the waste and recycling industry for more than 50 years, NWRA also coordinates the ongoing development of new and revised standards for both equipment and protective gear.