Combustible waste poses a serious fire risk, so it’s essential facilities managers focus on measures such as effective waste minimisation, storage, management and disposal, to protect buildings from devastating and avoidable blazes.
By Andrew Gladstone-Heighton, Institute of Workplace and Facilities Management (IWFM) on 01 August 2026
More than eight million vapes are thrown away or recycled incorrectly every week in the UK, resulting in environmental damage and an increased risk of lithium-ion battery fires, according to non-profit group Material Focus.
By Kerry Reals on 19 December 2024
A London refuse worker narrowly missed injury when a bin he loaded onto a lorry exploded.
By Belinda Liversedge on 27 September 2024
A Nottingham-based wood recycling company has been fined £22,500 and ordered to pay costs of more than £44,000 after an employee was struck by a wheel loader and killed.
By Kerry Reals on 27 August 2024
A recycling company that specialises in supplying biomass fuel derived from waste wood has been fined £160,000 for endangering the long-term health of its workers by exposing them to excessive wood dust.
By Kerry Reals on 05 June 2024
A scrap metal recycling firm has been fined £200,000 after an employee’s arm became entangled in a catalytic sampling machine and later had to be amputated.
By Kerry Reals on 07 March 2024
Ward Recycling Limited has been fined £2.15 million and found guilty of corporate manslaughter, after an agency worker was run over and killed by a loading shovel at its site in Hartlepool.
By Kerry Reals on 01 February 2024
Made an OBE this year in recognition for her services to Recycling, Safety and Industry, Jacqueline O’Donovan has been managing director of O’Donovan Waste Disposal Ltd since the age of 19. Safety Management meets her to learn the secrets of her success.
By Belinda Liversedge on 20 October 2023
Valencia Waste Management Limited, formerly known as Viridor Waste Management Limited, has been fined £3 million after two workers died in separate incidents.
By Belinda Liversedge on 26 September 2023
Managers at a recycling firm where a scrap metal worker was killed after suffering head injuries have been convicted of health and safety failings in a case brought by CPS Special Crime Division.
By Belinda Liversedge on 08 March 2022
