News

Dump gets clean bill of health

By Lightning Reports, Published: July 6, 2016

Henderson County's Solid Waste Department was recently visited by inspectors from the Charlotte office of the Occupational Safety and Health Division of the N.C. Department of Labor.

Inspections by Department of Labor staff are typically unscheduled; however, the Henderson County Office of Human Resources regularly performs full facility inspections with department heads and supervisors to ensure that all records, training logs, equipment, and safety practices are current.

The department received high praise from the inspectors, during and after their late June visit, for its keen attention to detail, outstanding organization of operations logs, updated catalogs of monthly safety and customer service training records, and overall facility safety practices observed daily by staff.

“We’re extremely proud of our team here at Henderson County Solid Waste," said Greg Wiggins, operations manager of Solid Waste and the Cane Creek Sewer District. "Everyone works together with good communication and enthusiasm to do the right thing. This kind of outcome takes a lot of effort on everyone’s parts, and we are constantly making adjustments to our operations to keep safety and health, for the staff and citizen users, our number one top priority."

Over three hours, agency personnel inspected Solid Waste facilities to identify proper safety and health standards in practice, such as placement of working fire extinguishers and eye wash stations, daily site reports, and chemical storage labeling. The solid waste garage was under particular scrutiny, as accidents can occur easily in a facility with pressurized air, chemicals, tools, and hydraulic lifts.

“Full compliance in a garage setting, with details as stringent as maintaining the correct work rest adjustment on a grinder wheel, is extremely difficult to obtain. This successful inspection is the result of a great deal of determination and vigilance in a fast paced, high-risk environment. The safety of our employees and the citizens of Henderson County is of the highest regard to us. It is a crucial to everything we do on a daily basis,” said Ann Marie Calloway, risk manager with the County’s Human Resources Department.