As part of your subscription to LUS we offer a helpline service. Ran by experts, the free legislation helpline provides support to understand the general application of environment, health and safety legislation, as well as providing clarity on updates to your legislation register.
Our LUS subscriber helpline service helps provide clarity on the general application of environment, health and safety legislation. We get some great questions and thought you might be interested in the answers we gave.
What is a green travel plan and is having a Green Travel Plan compulsory?
A green travel plan can be used by businesses and other organisations to identify and promote ways to encourage a range of sustainable, or less environmentally damaging modes of transport. A plan addresses all transport issues within an organisation including staff travel into their place of work, staff travel on business, clients visiting the organisation’s premises and fleet management.
Generally, travel plans are only required where a development with planning permission is likely to result in any meaningful change to transport in an area. Green travel plans are rarely compulsory but may be required as part of an environmental permit requirement or for a development likely to disrupt current transport infrastructure in the area that would impact people and the environment.
I’m based in the UK, can I get an annual waste transfer note for my commercial waste instead of one for each collection?
You probably can for some of your wastes! This does depend on a few things though.
Annual waste transfer notes or “season tickets” are only allowed to be used for the collection of the same type of waste by the same waste carrier. They can be used to cover multiple transfers of non-hazardous waste over a period of up to one year.
In order to be eligible for an annual note the details about the collection that must remain the same are:
- the current holder / producer of the waste;
- the waste carrier; and
- the type of waste.
When using an annual note, records of each individual transfer must be kept in accompaniment for at least 2 years.
Further guidance can be found on the Government website here.
What training and experience would someone issuing confined space and excavation permits require?
The legislation does not prescribe specific training and experience for those involved in permit-to-work systems. Instead, it requires adequate training and competence, which should be determined based on a risk assessment.
Guidance on permit-to-work systems, including risk assessment, responsibilities and training and competence can be found in the HSG250 document, issued by the HSE.
The guidance document defines the different roles under a permit-to-work system and the responsibilities of each. It also covers training requirements and assessment of competency (including for those issuing permits).
In conclusion, while the law does not prescribe specific training that must be undertaken by those issuing a permit-to-work, guidance is available from HSE on options for provision of training and assessment of competency.
Our facility is a contractor that produces finished goods for other companies, are we as the contractor liable for the recording and reporting data on packaging waste, or is it the company that we are doing the work for that is liable, i.e., the company that is shipping to the end customer?
The latest guidance on agreed positions and technical interpretations for EPR states ‘If packaging bears more than one brand, the producer who makes the first supply of the filled packaging is the producer in relation to that packaging’.
In this case, your facility would be classed as the producer of the packaging and be responsible for it, as it has your branding on and you are the first supplier (supplying to the customer), even if the ultimate intention is that the product and packaging will be supplied to your customer’s customer.
If there is a leak of refrigerant gases (R134a or R32) from our equipment, then do we need to report that to the Environmental Agency?
The regulations on fluorinated greenhouse gases, which cover R132a and R32, establish specific duties for leak checks and record keeping, but don’t specifically require the reporting of leaks. If a leak of F gas is detected, it is the operator’s duty to repair the equipment as soon as possible and repeat the leak test within a month. You should keep hold of the documentary evidence to be able to demonstrate the leak was fixed and then retested,
Additional information on F gas leaks can be found in the government guidance here.
While there isn’t a specific duty in the regulations to report leaks, there may be a condition in an environmental permit to report a leak. If a permit does require the reporting of a leak then there would be a legal requirement to comply with this.