Quietness award cause for loud cheer!
21 January 2010

At the prestigious Safety & Health Practitioner, Institute Of Safety and Health Awards 2009, The bmi Group, in conjunction with their valued customer, Swindon Commercial Services, scooped the award for Innovation of the Year. The SHP IOSH Awards, running now for the third year in succession, are firmly established in the UK’s Health and Safety calendar, and both parties were delighted to go up and accept the award, amid scenes of great celebration. The award is the culmination of a project undertaken in February of this year between bmi and The University of Ulster’s Knowledge Transfer Partnership. The scope of this project was to report on and reduce the Noise Exposure Levels experienced by an operator of a bmi supplied ‘TopSelect’ Kerbside Collection Vehicle, when loading recyclable materials, and in particular when loading glass.

The report indicated that unmodified vehicles subjected workers to Workplace Noise Exposure Levels of 94dB – which would be unacceptably high under current Noise at Work Regulations. To improve performance, two steps were taken. Firstly, a hard rubber type compound was added to the troughs of the Collection Vehicles, this reduced the Exposure Levels, but only partially. The second step involved the addition of a flap arrangement designed by bmi to shield the operator from direct exposure to the noise. The results this time were significant, reducing the Workplace Noise Exposure Levels to 81dB – comfortably within existing Noise at Work Regulations.

bmi Municipal Sales Manager, Peter McGuckin said, “This award is testament not only to the work carried out by The University of Ulster and bmi, but also to Swindon Commercial Services for having the commitment to the Health and Safety of their operatives and for having the foresight to implement this solution.