Your responsibilities

The full practical implications of the Duty of Care are numerous and require any organisation generating waste to appraise its waste management practices in some detail.

Onsite: the requirement to prevent escape of wastes implies the need for a thorough knowledge of all the wastes produced as well as proper planning for waste storage and movement. Regular inspections, detailed forethought and contingency plans are all essential.

Offsite: the wastes must be securely packaged or contained', paying due regard to all foreseeable events which may happen to them and the description with the waste must be adequate to prevent it being mishandled later in the disposal chain.

Your Duty of Care: also doesn't end when you've handed over your waste to a suitable person. You must select only a carrier registered to handle your type of waste (in terms of their equipment, training, and awareness).

It is also your responsibility: to select a suitable transfer station and disposal site. You must check that the licence of the facility is suitable for both the type and the amount of waste you plan to send and assure yourself that your waste is handled property at the disposal site.

You must also keep proper records of all your waste movements available for inspection for 2 years.

You cannot contract the Duty of Care: for your waste away to someone else. Management will be held responsible for all the acts or omissions by staff and employees so you cannot shift your DoC on to either your contractors, or your staff. When your waste is in someone else's hands, your DoC is shared BUT as the producer of the waste you always have a responsibility. Well constructed, unambiguous contracts with the people who handle your waste are therefore vital and will allow you to act immediately to put matters right should you discover or suspect any breach of your own or your contractors DoC.

Lastly: you must review some arrangements at least yearly.