safety, health, environment and quality management. management... · 4 sheq management “ biffa is...

Safety, Health,Environment and Quality Management.

The Biffa Way

SHEQ Management2

“ We will keep our people, our customers and the environment safe and take action if we see danger.”

Ian Wakelin Chief Executive

The Biffa Way. April 2014 3

What is The Biffa Way? 5

Introduction to the Biffa Safety, Health, Environment and Quality Management Framework 6

1 Commitment and Leadership 10

2 Policy 11

3 Organising for Safety, Health, Environment and Quality 12

4 Assessing Safety, Health, Environment and Quality Risks 15

5 Planning and Implementing for Safety, Health, Environment and Quality 16

6 Monitoring Safety, Health and Environment Performance 19

7 Reviewing Our Performance 23

Safety, Health, Environment and Quality Management.The Biffa Way

SHEQ Management4

“ Biffa is aspiring to be the leader in safety, health, environment and quality through a series of initiatives and programmes created on the foundations of ownership, leadership, commitment and communication from all those involved. By positively engaging our employees at all levels we will achieve our aim of developing a belief culture throughout the organisation, ensuring that we are a responsible and efficient company with world class performance.”Matt Humphreys Head of Safety, Health and Quality

“ Sustainable businesses are those which preserve resources for future generations. Biffa has a number of programmes designed to promote the sustainable use of resources and the environmentally sound management of the wastes which we collect. At Biffa it is not just an environmental programme but an economic and social imperative.”

Rob Jones Group Environment and Sustainability Manager


What is The Biffa Way?Biffa is committed to operating without causing harm or ill health to any employees, partners, members of the public or the environment. This commitment extends to working with other parties and stakeholders for the overall protection of people and the environment and also towards achieving continuous improvement within Biffa and our industry.

Our current Safety, Health, Environment and Quality Strategy incorporates a Balanced Business Plan, Key Objectives and Targets and Annual SHEQ Improvement Plans to achieve this. The Board has set an improvement target on our Lost Time Incident Rate (LTIFR) which it expects all Divisions of the business to help attain.

The 10% Year on Year target has been set and supports the central Government and industry drive for continuous improvement. The key philosophy of our business is communicated by our message that explicitly states our position on personal ownership of health, safety, environmental and quality performance and our belief that we can all make a difference towards achieving the overall goal of an accident, incident (including environment) free workplace and our goal of achieving zero fatalities and zero harm.

The original 3 year strategy has been a huge success and has therefore now been extended to a 5-year strategy with some evolved objectives added and achieved targets removed. In order to achieve these continuing goals, all Divisions are required to draft their own long term Safety, Health, Environment and Quality Strategies in the form of a ‘Commitment Statement’ based on the Group Safety, Health, Environmental and Quality Strategy and Objectives and Targets. These statements will be communicated to the Divisions and subject to regular review. Outcomes of these meetings will be communicated on the company intranet, BiffaNet; so as to ensure that all employees are kept up to date on progress and the decisions made.

SHEQ Management6

Introduction to the Biffa Safety, Health, Environment and Quality Management Framework.

Biffa operates under a common set of company principles and values, supported by policies that are implemented through the individual Divisions and their partners. Divisions work in a devolved manner, with local ownership, but within a framework of Biffa Group Standards.

Biffa policy requires every Division to implement effective and systematic arrangements for managing safety, health, environment and quality supported by the SHEQ Team. This document sets out the fundamental strategic governance requirements and expectations for managing safety, health, environment and quality at work within Biffa and the method in which the Company ensures legal compliance and continual improvement.

It applies to all Divisions and to all joint ventures, partnerships and associated companies in which we have a controlling share (>50%).

These are the minimum standards that must be achieved. Compliance with all national legal and regulatory requirements is a given and is mandatory.

The framework will be supported by more detailed ‘Good Practice’ guidance for specific topics. This guidance will set out good practice, identified from within and outside of Biffa. They aim to share good practice and encourage consistency of approach across the organisation.

6


Supporting the Framework

Balanced Business

Plan

Corporate Policies

SHEQ ManagementThe Biffa Way

Safety, Health, Environment and Quality Strategy, Objectives, Targets and Plans

Divisional Safety, Health, Environment and Quality Commitment Statement

Integrated Management Systems and Procedures

Good Practice Guides

7

Our ultimate goal is

ZEROFatalitiesHarmEnvironmental incidents

SHEQ Management8

The framework contains the essential elements for managing safety, health, environment and quality successfully:n Our commitment to the highest standards of

management is reflected in our policies and the leadership shown by the Board and our leaders throughout our Divisions

n We have an organisational structure that supports the management and communication of safety, health, environment and quality matters

n Our approach to managing health and safety is based on a systematic appraisal of the risks from our activities, and the implementation of appropriate risk control measures and safe systems of work

n We measure and monitor our performance, using the information to identify and drive improvement. Accident and incident investigation, inspection and audit are also used to drive continuous improvement

n Finally we review our performance and the effectiveness of our arrangements periodically, to enable us to determine our next steps forward.


The following sections of this document define our expectations and requirements for each element of the framework.

Commitment and Leadership1

Policy2

Organising for Safety, Health, Environment and Quality3

Assessing Risks4

Planning and Implementing5

Monitoring Performance6

Review7

SHEQ Management10

1 Commitment and LeadershipWe are committed to conducting our business with integrity. In terms of safety, health, environment and quality, this means our objective is to cause no harm or ill health to people and to minimise our impact on the environment. This encompasses those who work for us directly, those who work with us as suppliers, customers or partners, and all those who may be affected by our activities.

The Board of Directors are committed to reducing the frequency and severity of accidents and ill health at work and uses Lost Time Incident Frequency Rate (LTIFR) as a key performance indicator to assess performance. The Board expects all Divisions to contribute to making these improvements.

We expect all managers to lead by example by demonstrating positive behaviours in safety, health, environment and quality by their involvement in site visits, Safety Improvement Team (SIT) meetings, management processes and effective consultation with employees.

Safety, health, environment and quality are line management responsibilities: line managers are responsible and accountable for safety, health, environment and quality within their sphere of control.

All individuals have a role to play; we will provide information, training, equipment and systems to enable all to understand their role, to work safely, healthily, and to participate in improving performance overall and minimise business impact upon the environment.

Lost Time Incident Frequency Rate

10%annual reduction


2 PolicyBiffa has six Policy Statements: n Health, Safety and Welfare

n Health and Wellbeing

n Environment and Sustainability

n Quality

n Corporate Responsibility

n Carbon and Energy Management.

These Policy Statements provide:n A clear commitment from the Chief Executive

and the Board

n A clear statement of overall safety, health, environment and quality objectives

n A commitment to prevention and continual improvement

n A commitment to compliance with all applicable legislation

n A commitment to conduct business with integrity

n A commitment to utilise resources sustainably and minimise carbon emissions.

SHEQ Management12

Organisation

The BoardThe Board takes overall responsibility for safety, health, environment and quality in Biffa, including setting policy and reviewing performance.

At each Board meeting, Directors receive and consider a report on safety, health, environment and quality, prepared by the Head of Safety, Health and Quality.

The Chief Executive has ultimate responsibility for health and safety within Biffa and company performance.

Safety, Health and Quality ‘Top Management Review’The Chief Executive Officer and the Head of Safety, Health & Quality review the Safety, Health & Quality strategy each month in 1-2-1 meetings to determine and monitor the Safety, Health & Quality strategy against target. As part

of that meeting a review of all serious incidents is carried out to ensure that lessons are learnt and shared across the Company. Both the Head of Safety, Health & Quality and the Group Environment and Sustainability Manager present a monthly update to the Executive Board to review performance and align the improvement strategy.

The Head of Safety, Health & Quality chairs a weekly conference call with the Chief Executive Officer and the Directors from all Functions to review serious safety, health and environmental incidents from the previous week.

Biffa’s Main Board review all aspects of our performance every 6 months. The Board review policies, strategies and performance, and recommends changes where appropriate. It is authorised to investigate any relevant matter and to obtain independent advice.

Safety, Health, Environment and Quality Management

The Biffa Way

3 Organising for Safety, Health, Environment and Quality


This section first describes the organisational arrangements at Biffa for managing, safety, health, environment and quality then the arrangements expected within the Divisions.

Divisional Safety, Health, Environment and Quality Leadership Each Division shall establish and monitor their own management system. The Divisional management system should reflect Group Policy and Standards and strive to achieve the Company objectives. This is the responsibility of the Divisional Director with the Divisional leadership team also taking responsibility for its implementation. Meetings to report and review progress are held quarterly as a minimum.

The purpose of the meetings is to:

n Review policy and consider ‘fit for purpose’ and best practice

n Review performance overall and progress against the Divisional ‘Commitment Statement’

n Review the Divisions arrangements for managing safety, health, environment and quality

n Set overall expectations and objectives relating to Safety, Health, Environment and Quality.

Safety Improvement Teams Safety Improvement Team meetings are held locally on a monthly basis as a minimum. These Improvement Teams are chaired by management and are supported by the local Safety, Health, Environment and Quality Coach. A cross section representation of the workforce must be invited and encouraged to attend.

The role of the Improvement Team is to:

n Encourage consultation with Biffa colleagues

n Engage feedback from the workforce about issues affecting them

n Review performance

n Share good practice and ideas, promote new initiatives and highlight concerns

n Review safety, health and environment issues

n Review existing policies

n Formulate and recommend new policy.

This tiered meeting structure allows issues to be consulted and escalated to Senior Management where appropriate to influence policy and procedures.

Safety, Health, Environment and Quality Team MeetingsA meeting with the Safety, Health, Environment and Quality Leadership Team is held monthly, chaired by the Head of Safety, Health and Quality. The purpose is to share and develop best practice and to support and provide advice to Divisions. Both the Head of Safety, Health and Quality and the Group Environment and Sustainability Manager further supports the Safety, Health, Environment and Quality Leadership Team through a weekly conference call, regular adhoc telephone 1-2-1 communications, accompanied visits and on request additional support.

A meeting with the full Safety, Health, Environment & Quality Team takes place tri-annually, chaired by the Head of Safety, Health and Quality.

SHEQ Management14

Divisional Roles and Responsibilities Within each Division, the Divisional Director is responsible for the implementation and performance of its management system and for legal compliance. Each Divisional Director must nominate an appropriate senior leader to ‘champion’ safety, health, environment and quality at senior level within the Division. This ‘champion’ may, for example, advise, co-ordinate, develop policy and oversee implementation of the management system.

Their role as champion in no way diminishes any line management responsibility and accountability for safety, health, environment and quality within their area.

The Divisional Director, supported by the Head of Safety, Health and Quality, must appoint a competent and suitably qualified and experienced Divisional Safety, Health, Environment and Quality Coach to co-ordinate the overall implementation of the Divisions management systems in partnership with the appointed safety champion and Division as a whole.

The Safety Champion and Divisional Safety, Health, Environment and Quality Coach must have access to the Divisional Director.

Each Division must document and communicate individual roles, responsibilities and authorities for the management system and must provide adequate resources.

Where in-house expertise is not available each Division must establish access to a source of competent advice.

Central Support Functions must ensure all staff are adequately trained, supported and provided with safe equipment and facilities.

Commitment statement with specific KPI’s in place for each Division


4 Assessing Safety, Health, Environment and Quality Risks

It is a fundamental requirement for effective safety, health, environment and quality management that each Division identifies the hazards arising from its activities, and assesses the potential risks.

Each Division must identify key overarching risks within the main Divisional activities and identify effective control measures to minimise risk.

Each Business unit must assess each activity/task based risks taking into account:

n Work related risks to employees, other workers, contractors, visitors and members of the public proportionate to their responsibilities, abilities and literacy

n Routine and non-routine activities, and foreseeable emergencies.

Each Division must seek to eliminate or to control effectively any significant risks identified (see Operational Control).

Risk assessments relating to significant safety, health, environment and quality risks must be recorded, monitored and reviewed where necessary.

Where a generic risk assessment is undertaken for a common work activity, these must be reviewed for the specific task in hand, and any additional control measures identified and adopted.

Risk assessment must form an integral part of the Division’s management of change.

SHEQ Management16

Legal and Company RequirementsEach Division must identify:

n All applicable legislation

n All applicable Biffa company requirements

n Any relevant industry standards (for safety, health, environment & quality).

All Divisions must operate in compliance with applicable legislation, unless a specific exemption or exemption period has been previously agreed with the relevant enforcement authority.

Where full compliance with company and industry standards is not immediately achievable, the Division must develop a plan to achieve compliance within a reasonable and defined timescale, unless a specific exemption or exemption period has been previously agreed with the relevant authority.

Operational ControlHaving established its significant safety, health, environment and quality risks, each Division must identify those operations and activities (including maintenance, non-routine work and foreseeable emergencies) where control measures need to be applied. Control measures should be designed to avoid, prevent and then mitigate risks.

Each Division must establish and maintain safe systems of work for the activities identified as being of significant risk, including Management of Change:

n Documented Safety, Health, Environment & Quality procedures or work instructions

n Requirements for the design and maintenance of equipment, vehicles, plant and machinery

n Systems for the purchase and use of substances, goods, equipment and services.

Safety, Health, Environment & Quality Improvement Plan in place across Group & Divisions

5 Planning and Implementing for Safety, Health, Environment and Quality


Safe systems of work and procedures will reflect legal requirements, relevant company and industry standards and good practice.

Where a risk assessment indicates the need for additional control measures, the implementation of these additional control measures must be monitored and their effectiveness confirmed.

Emergency Preparedness and ResponseEach Division must, from time to time, review its risks to determine the potential for serious incidents or emergency situations.

Each Division must establish emergency plans to mitigate the potential consequences associated with such incidents.

Emergency plans must be communicated and kept up to date.

Where reasonable, each Division should periodically practice its emergency plans.

Set TargetsEach Division must establish and maintain a set of clear objectives and targets for improving safety, health, environment and quality. This will be part of the Divisional Balanced Business Plan.

All targets set should relate to its current significant safety, health, environment and quality risks and be consistent with the Biffa Policies, Strategy and Group annual Safety, Health, Environment and Quality Objectives and Targets.

Safety, Health, Environment and Quality PlanEach Division must establish and maintain a written safety, health, environment and quality plan to achieve its objectives and targets. The plan should be agreed with the relevant Divisional Director and issued in April each year. The actions, responsibilities and time-scales for achieving the objectives and targets must be clearly defined and adequate resources provided.

The Safety, Health, Environment & Quality Plan should reflect the Balanced Business Plan.

The plan must be reviewed at regular and planned intervals and revised as appropriate to reflect changing circumstances.

Training and CompetenceEach Division must ensure that individuals are demonstrably competent to undertake their duties and work activities. This includes management and supervisory staff, contractors, operatives, temporary workers and Agency Staff (including those within the Managed Service Agreement). Industry competence standards or qualifications should be adopted where applicable. In all cases, a relevant safety competence is required.

Each Division must establish a training matrix that ensures all individuals working within are given relevant occupational safety, health, environment and quality training and information. This training or information must be proportionate to their responsibilities, abilities, literacy and the risks associated with their work and be refreshed at appropriate intervals. It must include emergency preparedness.

Specific individual or group training needs must be periodically assessed to ensure that each individual or group is competent to perform their role.

Compliance to the divisional training matrix is to be checked regularly within each division.

SHEQ Management18

Contractor ManagementEach Division, in partnership with the Biffa Procurement Team, must establish systems to:

n Determine the qualities required of sub-contractors, including relevant industry competence standards

n Assess those areas of performance that will impact on safety, health, environment and quality

n Determine approved contractors who meet the requirements

n Monitor and review the performance of contractors.

Behavioural ManagementThe Company has established a behavioural safety campaign called ‘i for safety’. Underpinning the campaign are 5 Critical Behaviours which are the Company’s mantra for behavioural improvement;

Don’t Cut Corners

Speak up on Safety

Stay Focused

Follow the Rules

Stop, Think, Check, Act

Each Division will develop a behavioural management cultural programme based on the ‘i for safety’ 5 Critical Behaviours.

Participation and ConsultationEach Division must consult with workers and involve them in safety, health and environment to encourage development of a shared and positive attitude.

Each Division will appoint an Employee Engagement Champion who helps coordinate and drive improvements throughout the Division. Senior Management endorse the Champion and monitor action plans to ensure continual improvement.

External ComplaintsEach Division must establish and maintain a system for receiving and responding to relevant communication and complaints from external interested parties.

Health and WellbeingThe Company has established a Health & Wellbeing working group to raise awareness throughout our workforce. The targeted action plan must be supported by each Division to ensure improvements are made across the Business.

Quarterly Health & Wellbeing campaigns established


6 Monitoring Safety, Health, Environment and Quality Performance

Accidents and Incidents – Recording and InvestigationEach Division must support Biffa in establishing and maintaining systems for recording:

n Occupational injuries

n Occupational illnesses

n Environmental incidents/spillages

n Dangerous Occurrences

The reporting of near misses, i.e. undesired events that under slightly different circumstances could have resulted in harm to people, is to be encouraged.

A centralised approach to near miss reporting is available to enable sites to risk rate near misses and hazards and establish which incidents should be investigated more thoroughly.

Each Division must investigate all serious accidents and other events with the potential for serious consequences. The investigation must determine the underlying and root causes of the event and make recommendations to prevent recurrence of similar events. Relevant lessons must be shared with other Divisions.

Serious events, including significant near misses and issues that may attract adverse publicity and/or enforcement authority intervention, must be reported to the Head of Safety, Health and Quality or the Biffa Press Office as soon as practicably possible. The Head of Safety, Health & Quality must then make a decision regarding the impact and involve Senior Management and the Safety, Health, Environment & Quality Team urgently to adequately address the issue.

SHEQ Management20

Corporate Review of Serious IncidentsThe Biffa Executive Board conducts a review of the most serious events, including:

n Serious accidents

n Other events with potentially serious consequences such as near misses, significant hazards and incidents resulting in work related ill health

n Serious environmental incidents

This is a weekly conference call, chaired by the Head of Safety, Health & Quality.

This review is also an agenda item covered as part of the scheduled monthly meeting held with the Head of Safety, Health and Quality. The objectives of the review are to understand the immediate and system causes of the event, to ensure that appropriate actions are taken to prevent recurrence, and that transferable lessons are communicated across the Divisions.

Quarterly Incident Reporting Forums are carried out at Divisional level.

All incidents are fully investigated and closed out within 7 days (unless there are mitigating circumstances). All reports are to be sent to the

relevant Divisional Director, Divisional & Regional, Safety, Health, Environment & Quality Coach, the Head of Safety, Health & Quality and the Group Environment and Sustainability Manager for review. Failure to comply with the 7 days results in an escalation to the Chief Executive Officer for further action.

Significant issues from inspections and audits carried out by the Safety, Health, Environment & Quality Team and Operational Teams are reviewed by the Operational Board of Biffa on a Quarterly basis and by Divisions as part of their regular meetings.

Inspections and AuditsEach Division must establish and maintain systems (e.g. workplace inspections, safety, health, environmental and quality audits) to monitor performance on a regular basis:

n Compliance with procedures and work instructions

n Compliance with applicable legislation and industry standards

n Compliance with manufacturers recommended service intervals and maintenance programme.

n Compliance with the ‘i for safety’ Critical Behaviours’.

Quarterly review of inspections & audits by Operational Board


Internal audit schedules will be established by the Divisional Safety, Health, Environment & Quality Coach with a focus on management system audits and regular site audits based on the Top Key Risks for each Division.

The frequency of visit will be based upon the level of ‘risk’ posed at site e.g. activities carried out, previous incident experience, experience of management team etc.

Any non-compliance identified must be recorded and reported to the relevant operational management team. Relevant steps must be taken to rectify issues.

Independent AuditEach Division must ensure that its management system, in practice, is made available for external, independent audit on request. External, independent audit schedules will be provided by the Head of Safety, Health and Quality. The audits, carried out on a three year rolling cycle, will establish the effectiveness of the system in meeting the Biffa policy and objectives.

The key findings arising from these audits will be presented to the Biffa Operating Board quarterly by the SHEQ Team and shared across all Divisional Operational teams where appropriate. All audit actions will be closed out within a reasonable

timescale. Long standing issues will be escalated to Senior Management for further consideration.

Corrective and Preventive ActionAll Divisions must identify corrective and preventive actions to address problems and non conformances revealed by:

n Incident investigation

n Safety, health, environmental and quality inspection and audits and behavioural observations

n External audit

n Enforcement action/agency recommendations

n Industry shared learnings

n Relevant case law

n Management system audits

n Other sources, for example issues raised by workforce, safety, health, environment and quality climate surveys, complaints, whistle-blowing.

All corrective and preventive actions must be proportionate to the magnitude of the problem and the risks.

All actions must be assigned an action owner and target completion date, and must be tracked to completion.

Monitoring Safety, Health, Environment and QualityEach Division must establish systems to report the following, on a regular basis, to the appropriate management team:

n Agreed indicators (or KPI’s), for example the number of occupational injuries and illnesses, the Lost Time Incident Rate, etc

n Progress towards agreed objectives and targets

n Investigation findings and recommendations

n Audit findings and non-conformances

n Corrective and preventive actions initiated and completed

n Confirmation of the effectiveness of such actions

n The number of training days.

Each Division must review these at an appropriate managerial level on a regular basis and initiate further action if required.

SHEQ Management22

Reporting of Safety, Health, Environment and Quality Performance to BiffaEach Division must report to Biffa, on a monthly basis or as required, specific information on performance as defined by both the Head of Safety, Health and Quality and the Group Environment and Sustainability Manager.

Documentation and Records Each Division must establish and maintain an information system, in electronic form, which describes the core elements of the management system.

Each division must maintain systems for the storage and retrieval of statutory and other critical documents and records relating to safety, health, environment and quality management, including the results of audits, performance reviews and management system reviews.

Group & Divisions must endeavour to ‘streamline’ documentation by minimising duplication and work to simple principles of Plain Speaking wherever possible.

The Biffa Incident Reporting System (IRS) and Compliance Database (CDB) are designed to store and retrieve:

n Event details including injuries, ill-health cases, dangerous occurrences and near misses

n Investigation details and the underlying and root causes of events

n The results of risk assessments, audits and safety observation tours

n Environmental compliance issues

n Actions arising from these and most importantly, closure of actions in a timely manner.

Each Division should make arrangements to store and retrieve:

n The results of risk assessments, audits and safety, health and environmental observations

n Actions arising from these and closure of actions.

Incident trends are gathered through the Management Information Team and reported upon weekly and monthly to the business.

Root cause analysis training for all managers to be carried out


7 Reviewing Our PerformanceManagement ReviewAs previously noted Biffa reviews strategy, Objectives and Targets through monthly 1-2-1 meetings and Executive Board Meetings held by the Chief Executive Officer, supported by the Head of Safety, Health and Quality, and attended by the Senior Leadership Team. Review meetings are held at Divisional level which establish targets which are published through the Balanced Business Plan.

As a learning and continuously improving organisation, Biffa constantly reviews performance and identifies areas both within the organisation and externally to identify best practice and develop further improvements.

Printed on Cocoon, comprising of 100% FSC recycled fibres sourced entirely from post consumer waste.

Biffa Group LtdCoronation Road Cressex Business Park High Wycombe BuckinghamshireHP12 3TZ

0800 601 601 www.biffa.co.uk

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