Ubico appeals to road users to drive safely around crews

Ubico appeals to road users to drive safely around crews

Ubico and its council partners are appealing to drivers to be vigilant and exercise patience around their collection crews whilst they are at work – and to only pass when it is safe to do so.

Ubico’s waste and recycling crews are increasingly reporting instances of dangerous driving from motorists overtaking or undertaking, stopping too close to the collection vehicles, and mounting the pavements which is putting their safety and the safety of other road users and pedestrians at risk. 

Rob Heath, Operations Director for Ubico said:

“Our operations cover a huge area. Our collection crews deliver an essential service to the community, collecting waste and recycling from over 300,000 properties across Gloucestershire and West Oxfordshire, and we are very grateful to the vast majority of motorists who drive safely around our crews.

Unfortunately, we are seeing increasing cases of unsafe driving which is putting the safety of road users, pedestrians and our crews at risk and we want to make sure everyone gets home safe to their families and friends at the end of their day. We appreciate that the delay caused by our collections can be frustrating at times, but we are appealing to motorists to exercise patience with, and drive safely around our crews and our vehicles.”

Weather conditions and dark mornings can also mean less visibility and more hazardous driving conditions, and whilst Ubico’s collection crews wear hi visibility clothing, it is even more important, at this time of year, to drive to the conditions and pass collection vehicles safely to ensure everyone is safe.

Ubico takes instances of dangerous driving around its crews very seriously. The majority of Ubico’s  vehicles are fitted with 360 degree cameras, and we work closely with the police to make sure all instances of dangerous driving around our crews are investigated.

Health and Safety Executive statistics for 2020-21 rank the waste and recycling industry as the second highest sector for fatalities with around 10% of all non-fatal injuries in the sector over the last 5 years the result of being struck by a moving vehicle, although not necessarily caused by road traffic.

Notes to editors:

• Breakdown of RIDDOR statistics show in the waste and recycling sector where a non-fatal injury occurred, for the five years 2016/17 to 2020/21, 11% (public sector) and 8% (private sector) of injuries were as a result of being struck by a moving vehicle of some kind.
• Health and Safety Executive (HSE) statistics show that three waste and recycling employees were killed at work in 2020-21. The annual fatality rate between 2016 and 2021 stands at eight.
• The HSE report that the rate of fatal injury to workers in both agriculture, forestry and fishing and waste and recycling remains markedly higher than the average across all industries: around 20 times higher and 17 times higher, respectively.