CHALLENGES FACING THE VEHICLE DISMANTLING SECTOR
Good recruitment is vital, especially when labour markets are tight. It is all about securing a workforce with the relevant skills and abilities for an organisation’s needs and providing potential candidates with the opportunity to evaluate the role and business.
Education is key to making ELV processes safer. Building from the ground up, making our employees more aware of the dangers associated with their roles, taking the time to explain the dangers of taking shortcuts whilst demonstrating the benefits of evolving current ELV activities with safe and sustainable solutions that increase operational efficiency.
The vehicle recycling sector has a hit-and-miss reputation when it comes to employee retention, with treatment and dismantling facilities historically struggling to hold on to depollution operatives. This attrition is often overlooked, but the reality is that it is expensive for those who experience it.
Change is inevitable, and companies must continually evolve to stay relevant, innovative, and competitive – the vehicle depollution and dismantling sector is no different. If treatment facilities do not respond to change positively, then they quickly become irrelevant.
Fires are prolific in the waste management sector generally, but they are most apparent at ELV sites, often stemming from poor depollution practices and issues related to lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries. To prevent risk of injury, death and harm to the environment, we need to clean-up the supply chain and greatly reduce the risk of fires occurring.
There has been widespread coverage on new legislation which means that those who pollute the environment will face unlimited penalties from enforcement agencies. It will allow environmental regulators to target a much wider range of offences and tackle pollution.
Standardisation provides a measure to drive improvement – be it in safety, compliance, quality, time, efficiency, productivity or the bottom line.
Once an activity is executed to a recognised standard, it can be measured and monitored, and from here, a business can really start to drive their vehicle recycling performance.
Business owners must carefully consider what is necessary and proportionate when it comes to training, but with recognition, growth and advancement opportunities all scoring high in UK job satisfaction surveys, delaying or neglecting investment in these people could cause your employees to walk, along with any investment made to date, and the chance of recuperating it.