Councils Save Money and Time (and potentially Lives) with Hard Disk Recording

An increasing number of local authorities are choosing to fit Hard Disk Recording equipment to their refuse vehicles to improve health and safety best practice amongst crews, reduce the number of accidents, investigate potential insurance claims or complaints, and enhance the efficiency of their waste collection service.Gavin Thoday, Innovative Safety Systems (ISS) Ltd, said:“There is an ever increasing demand for this kind of equipment to be fitted to refuse vehicles to assist councils in verifying claims made for damages reportedly caused during waste collection rounds and for investigating complaints against the service. Importantly, this technology makes it easier for authorities to ensure that health and safety best practice is being followed, to help train crews and minimise the risk of accidents.”Paul Evans, Direct Services Manager, South Derbyshire District Council, has recently requested ISS Hard Disk Recording equipment and Reversing Radar to be fitted to the latest addition to the fleet.Paul said:“We run a reliable service and as a relatively small District Council we don’t experience too much aggravation. However, there are often situations whereby bins are not left out or there is over-flowing side refuse. We are looking at the ways in which this technology can help us to manage these issues more efficiently, as well as enhance the safety of our crews.”In the case of Caerphilly County Borough Council, they have been specifying this equipment on refuse vehicles for some years and for good reason. In one example they were able to use the footage to illustrate to Councillors, the problems they had been experiencing with narrow lane access difficulties. More recently in April this year, within weeks of receiving five new RCV’s all fitted with ISS Hard Disk Recording, the Council was able to successfully counter a claim made by a member of the public that their car wing mirror had been knocked off by an RCV.Phillip Griffiths, Transport Manager, Caerphilly County Borough Council said:“The recording clearly showed that the wing mirror had already been damaged as our vehicle approached. This is one of a number of claims that we have been able to investigate, and discount, due to the footage we have recorded whilst our crews are doing their rounds. We have also used this equipment to help us make sure our crews are working in a safe manner, in accordance with our procedures. For example, we recorded that some crews were not fully utilising the role of the Banksman, and were instead relying entirely on the monitors in the cab. Thanks to the Hard Disk Recording we were able to address this issue with our crews and put it right.”