Employee and Customer Safeguarding During the COVID – 19 Health Crisis

Since the development of the Coronavirus outbreak on 11th March 2020, B&M Waste have been working diligently to mitigate the risk to our employees, customers, and the public, while continuing to provide an uninterrupted service.

 Whether you are a new or existing customer, B&M Waste can offer a streamlined contactless service from start to finish including online waste audits, portal accessible documentation and web chat.  Our employees are safe and compliant with social distancing and can continue to provide a best in class service.

Prepared to Welcome our Customers Back to Work

We want to inform our customers that we are monitoring the situation daily adapting our approach and contingency plan as more government advice is announced. Following on from the recent announcement on the 10th of May, specific plans are being initiated by our senior management team as we anticipate businesses being able to re open. 

We look forward to welcoming our customers back to work and will have measures in place to ensure maximum safety including the sale of masks, gloves and sanitising units. We will update and adapt our internal Business Continuity Plans, create and maintain relationships with UK suppliers and local businesses and continue to communicate openly contacting our customers with regular updates.

Healthy Safety and Wellbeing of our Employees

The health and wellbeing of our employees is our utmost priority, and so we have strictly adhered to our contingency plan in order to safeguard our workforce.

Some of the steps we have taken to ensure our employees remain safe

• Ensure all of our employees have suitable systems of work and PPE to protect them from Covid-19.
• Ensure the highest possible standard of cleanliness across our fleet and offices.
• Ensure we communicate effectively to vulnerable individuals and take pastoral care of their mental health and wellbeing. 
• PPE is used during collections (Gloves, Safety Footwear, High Vis) in addition Nitrile gloves worn underneath normal gloves
• All drivers are now working ‘solo’ ensuring social distancing is maintained 
• Exercise social distancing keeping 2 metres at all times
• Hand cleaning materials in cab and drivers must regularly wash their hands
• Drivers are to remain on the same vehicles wherever possible, daily clean down in operation of the cab

Some of the steps we have taken to ensure our customers remain safe

• We have communicated to and will regularly continue to update all customers about the changes to their services and have allowed certain sectors to temporarily suspend their services 
• We have suspended all activity which requires our teams to enter a building and requested all customers move their containers to easily accessible locations. 
• Paperwork is no longer required at the point of collection. We will sign on your behalf and email if required 
• PPE is used during collections (Gloves, Safety Footwear, High Vis) in addition to Nitrile gloves worn underneath normal gloves. We recommend customers to wear gloves whilst moving bins. 
• We empty the container and return it to the place we collected it from with the lid closed 
• The driver will not get out of their cab if they arrive on site and there are people present and social distancing cannot be done 
• We are offering clearance services to our customer base to ensure their premises are kept clean and avoid other potential H&S risks

General Info for Our Customers: 

Waste should be placed outside wherever possible to ensure that there is no close human interaction. We will no longer enter buildings without prior notification/Advanced Risk Assessments 

Most of our field teams are operating ‘solo’ ensuring social distancing is maintained. If you have booked a clearance which may requires two people please contact us

• We will not collect if you are exhibiting symptoms or have been exposed to the virus or are isolating due to potential exposure
• Our staff are taking precautions and only attending work if they are fit to do so
• We will not empty bins that appear to have discarded PPE in
• We will not hand over tablets, mobile phones or documentation and will sign these on your behalf
• Our back office is functioning as normal but our staff are working remotely
• Waste from locations with possible cases of COVID-19 and waste from cleaning of areas where possible cases have been identified should be double bagged, using a strong rubbish bag. These bags should be tied and stored for at least 72 hours or they will need to be moved as Category B infectious waste (in orange bags).

During this time we have strived to continue operating whilst keeping you safe. As a business, we have tried to mitigate every risk/scenario as reasonably foreseeable and will continue to do so as lockdown is eased. 

Thank you to the key workers, health workers, our staff and customers.

We recognise the increased uncertainty caused by Covid -19, and our thoughts go out to everyone who has been affected by the pandemic, we would also like to thank the health workers and key workers working tirelessly to help those in need. In addition we would like to say a huge thank you to our staff for continuing to provide a great service, and to our customers for remaining vigilant during this challenging time.

The ONLY COVID-19 solution for Waste and Recycling

Should you have any questions with regards to the ongoing support of your business waste management or if you are worried or confused about what to do with your waste; contact our helpful Customer Relations Team on 0330 1234 100 or email info@bandmwaste.com.