• Home
  • Foreword
• Introduction
  • Acknowledgements and contributors
  • Using the guide
  • Abbreviations
  • Who should use the guide
  • What is HHW?
  • Data on the number of HWRCs accepting trade waste and tonnage data
  • Dealing with trade waste
  • Waste Strategy for England
  • Local authority waste pages
  • Business resource efficiency and waste advice
• Legislation
• Definition of waste
• The European Waste Catalogue (EWC)
• The Hazardous Waste Regulations
• What is hazardous waste
• The Hazardous Waste Regulations (and domestic waste)
• Asbestos
• Seperately collected fractions
• The Hazardous Waste Regulations (and business waste)
• Premises notification
• Site inspections
• Consignment notes and acceptance at transfer stations
• Record keeping, inventory and consignee returns
• Duty of care
• Health and safety
• Environmental permitting
• Landfill
• Staff competencies
• Ozone Depleting Substances Regulations
• Restriction of Hazardous Substances Regulations
• International shipment of waste
• Manufacture and use of chemicals
• Regulations in the devolved administrations
  • Scotland
  • Northern Ireland
  • Cross-UK border issues
• European legislation in development
• Producer responsibility
  • Batteries
  • Waste Electronic and Electrical Equipment(WEEE)
  • End of Life Vehicles (ELV)
  • Decorative paint
• Key issues
  • Contracts and service specifications
  • Risk assessments
  • Site security
  • Segregating HHW from households
  • Minimum service provision
  • Separation of HHW items from mixed waste containers
  • Disposal costs
  • The Chemicals (Hazard Information and Packaging for Supply) (Amendment) CHIP Regulations 2005
  • Staff competences and training
  • Communication with householders and businesses
    • Signage
    • Verbal communication
    • Leaflets, press releases and websites
• Acceptance and storage of household hazardous type waste
  • Storage and segregation options
  • Asbestos
  • Automotive batteries
  • Clinical waste
  • Explosives
  • Fire extinguishers
  • Gas bottles
  • Household and garden chemicals
  • Household batteries
  • Motoring products
  • Oil and oil filters
  • Paints and related products
  • Waste Electrical Electronic Equipment (WEEE)
  • Fluorescent lighting tubes (gas discharge lamps)
  • Cooling appliances containing refrigerants (fridges and freezers)
  • Display equipment containing cathode ray tubes (TVs and monitors)
  • Smoke alarms
  • Other problematic wastes
  • Aerosols
  • Radioactive wastes
  • Tyres
  • Vegetable oil
• Key issues for businesses
  • Duty of care
  • Storing and managing hazardous waste at your site
  • Transfer and transportation
  • Using electronic consignment notes
  • SMEs and the Landfill Regulations
  • Asbestos
    • Asbestos in the construction and building trades
    • Businesses that own/occupy bulidings containing asbestos
  • Portable batteries
  • Automotive batteries
  • Vehicle owners and operators
  • Clinical Waste
  • Fire extinguishers
  • Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE)
    • Producers of EEE
    • Distributors of EEE
    • End users of EEE
    • Fluorescent lighting tubes (gas discharge lamps)
    • Cooling appliances containing refrigerants (fridges and freezers)
  • Gas cylinders
  • Chemicals and solvents
  • Tyres
  • Motoring products (including oil)
  • Paint
  • Vegetable oil
  • Potential support and solutions for buisness
• Case studies
• Minimising trade abuse at Haverton Hill HWRC
• Managing HHW at Redbridge Household Waste Recycling Centre
• Communicating with SMEs
• Accepting SME wastes in West Sussex
  • Managing hazardous WEEE, specifically TVs and fridges
  • Acccepting household type WEEE from Businesses
• Collecting IT WEEE from business in Scotland
• Distributor Take Back Scheme (WEEE)
• Battery collections
• Hampshire County Council's Waste Acceptance Policy
• Cost of collecting chemicals and other HHW at HWRCs
• Communication with the public on HHW issues
• Corporation of London householder and SME collection
• Dealing with traders at Durham County Council HWRCs
• Fly-tipping
• Private sector collections from SMEs
• Community RePaint
• Case Studies available on external websites
• Links
• Household Hazardous Type Waste Products List

It is a legal requirement for employers to carry out a suitable and sufficient risk assessment of their activities. Risk assessments should be conducted whenever arrangements for collection of hazardous material not previously collected at a HWRC are introduced, or following any incident or near miss. A risk assessment should also be conducted whenever existing storage or collection arrangements for HHW material are modified.

The Health and Safety Executive defines a risk assessment as “an organised look at your work activities” involving 5 Steps. These steps are:

1. Look for the hazards.
2. Decide who may be harmed and how.
3. Evaluate the risks arising from the hazards and decide whether existing precautions are adequate or if more should be done.
4. Record your significant findings.
5. Review your assessment from time to time and revise it if necessary.
   

Common hazards include:

• Compacting of waste by crushing, baling or melting and thereby expose themselves to dust and fumes (e.g. of heavy metals etc.) which can be injurious to health.
• storing materials in sufficient inventories and with other materials that may interreact with each other and cause a more serious risk.

When conducting a risk assessment, employers should consider the importance of suitable PPE and the importance of good welfare (washing) facilities to minimise the risks associated with skin contact/ingestion of biohazards, chemicals etc. Further detail is available in the Key issues for businesses section of the Guide.