Belgravia House Clearance — Health & Safety Policy

This Health and Safety policy outlines the commitment of Belgravia House Clearance to protect employees, contractors, customers and the public during house clearance, waste clearance and rubbish removal operations. The purpose of this policy is to set clear expectations for safe working practices across our rubbish company service area and to ensure compliance with relevant statutory obligations on health, safety and environmental management.

Scope: This policy applies to all activities performed by the business, including household waste collection, debris removal, bulky item removal, waste disposal and vehicle-based deliveries. It covers permanent staff and temporary operatives, contractors and subcontractors. The policy emphasises safe systems of work for manual handling, hazardous waste handling, vehicle loading and on-site waste segregation.

Responsibilities: Management has overall accountability for health and safety, including risk assessment, resource allocation, training and monitoring. Supervisors and team leaders are responsible for implementing safe work procedures during each house clearance and rubbish collection job. Employees and operatives must cooperate, follow instructions, wear issued PPE and report hazards or incidents promptly.

Risk Assessment and Safe Systems

All planned jobs must be subject to a suitable and sufficient risk assessment before work starts. Assessments will identify hazards such as sharps, asbestos suspect materials, unstable loads, electrical risks and biological contaminants. Control measures will be documented, communicated and reviewed. Safe systems of work include planning lifts, using mechanical aids and avoiding lone working in high-risk situations.

Personal protective equipment (PPE): Appropriate PPE must be provided and used, including gloves, safety boots, hi-vis clothing, eye protection and respiratory protection where dust or fumes may be present. PPE is a last line of defence and must be used in conjunction with engineering and administrative controls. Any damaged PPE must be reported and replaced.

Manual handling and vehicle safety: The policy requires training in manual handling techniques and the use of lifting aids. Vehicles and equipment used for rubbish removal, skip collection or waste transfer must be inspected daily, maintained to a safe standard and loaded to prevent shifting in transit. Drivers must adhere to road safety rules and secure loads according to industry best practice.

Hazardous Waste and Controlled Materials

When rubbish or household clearances reveal hazardous or controlled materials (including batteries, solvents, asbestos suspect items, sharps or medical waste), work must stop and the item isolated. Specialist contractors should be engaged for regulated waste. Records of hazardous waste segregation and disposal must be maintained in line with waste management regulations.

Cleaning, decontamination and spill response: Teams must be trained in basic spill containment and clean-up procedures for common contamination incidents. Appropriate absorbents, containment kits and disinfectants will be made available for on-site use. All decontamination work shall follow safe handling procedures to prevent cross-contamination between sites.

Training and competence: Employees will receive induction training covering this policy, emergency procedures and safe operating practices tailored to rubbish removal and house clearance tasks. Refresher training and toolbox talks will be scheduled regularly. Competence will be assessed and documented.

Incident reporting and investigation: All accidents, near-misses and dangerous occurrences must be reported to management immediately and recorded. Investigations will be carried out to establish root causes and to implement corrective actions that reduce recurrence. Lessons learned will be communicated to teams and rolled into updated risk assessments.

Monitoring and audit: The business will conduct periodic audits and inspections of work sites, vehicles and equipment to verify compliance with safe work procedures. Key performance indicators for safety will be reviewed at management meetings and corrective actions will be tracked to completion. Continuous improvement is a core expectation.

Emergency procedures and first aid: Emergency plans, including fire response, medical emergencies and evacuation arrangements, will be maintained and accessible to staff. First aid provision will be appropriate to the scale of operations and first aiders will be available on-site or via rapid response arrangements for out-of-hours clearances.

Communication and cooperation: Good communication between dispatch, drivers and on-site teams is essential for safe waste clearance operations. Briefings before each job should outline specific risks and controls. Workers are encouraged to stop work if they believe conditions are unsafe and to seek assistance or escalation without delay.

Contractors and subcontractors: Anyone working on behalf of the company must comply with this policy and demonstrate safe working practices. Contract arrangements will set clear expectations for health and safety performance and include provisions for training, supervision and incident reporting.

Policy review: This health and safety policy will be reviewed at least annually and whenever there is a significant change to work practices, legislation or following a serious incident. Any revisions will be published and communicated to all staff and associated personnel engaged in rubbish collection, waste clearance and house clearance services.