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The National Waste & Recycling Association and Together for Safe Roads recently announced the initial group of companies that will participate in safety program designed for small and medium sized waste haulers.
The FOCUS on Fleet Safety Training Program is an existing initiative for TSR, a national trucking safety organization. This builds on an existing partnership between NWRA and TSR, which dates back to 2020. While smaller waste and recycling organizations have participated in the past, this marks the first time the program has been tailored specifically for a group of waste companies.
The FOCUS program — which stands for “fairness, transparency, competence, unity and sustainability” — is intended to provide practical guidance to companies with fleets of 100 trucks or less.
“Going beyond simple compliance, it empowers participants to enact lasting change, ensuring safer roads and transformative impact on their organizations,” said Kirk Sander, chief of staff and vice president of safety and standards for NWRA, in a statement.
Participating companies include:
- Anchorage in Clayton, North Carolina
- Balcones Resources in Austin, Texas
- Carolina Trash & Septic in Angier, North Carolina
- KAL Services in Pella, Iowa
- Liberty Disposal in Hampstead, North Carolina
- Rio Grande Waste Services in El Paso, Texas
- Sanico in Delaware, New Jersey
- Troiano Waste Services in Portland, Maine
- Walter’s Recycling & Refuse in Blaine, Minnesota
- West Central Sanitation in Willmar, Minnesota
The program covers topics such as building a safety culture, working with drivers, collecting and evaluating data, selecting technology and coaching executives.
“We recognize the essential role that independent haulers play in ensuring safer roads and are committed to equipping this segment with the tools and resources they need for a safer waste and recycling industry,” said Peter Goldwasser, TSR executive director. statement.
The main occupation of waste and recycling workers is still one of the 10 highest death rates in the US The industry has made progress in recent years and the larger NWRA members continue to work to reduce their overall recordable incident rates, but smaller companies are seen as one of the biggest opportunities for improvement.
Kerri Mead-Bell, president of Anchor Disposal and the NWRA Women’s Council, said she clearly sees a need for the industry to engage more with these smaller companies.
“99% of the independent haulers are in the truck driving the truck, so they can’t be here,” he said during a May 8 session at WasteExpo.
Mead-Bell said it’s less common for smaller companies to have dedicated security managers and noted that incoming NWRA CEO Michael Hoffman; interested in finding more ways to support independent carriers. The safety record of these companies becomes important to the big companies if and when they acquire smaller competitors, but it is also seen as part of improving the overall reputation of the industry.
“We really need some way to help them, and I think the bigger companies should be responsible for that,” Mead-Bell said. “They have a lot more resources than us. They want to get out of the top 10 as well, so what better way than to help us train.”
Disclosure: WasteExpo is run by Informa, the owner of Waste Dive’s publisher, Industry Dive. Informa has no influence on the coverage of Waste Dive.