What is the Duty of Care?

In law, a duty of care is a legal obligation imposed on an individual requiring that they adhere to a reasonable standard of care while performing any acts that could possibly harm others.

As a business, you have a legal duty to ensure that any waste you produce is handled safely and in accordance with the law as covered by The Environmental Protection (Duty of Care) Regulations of 1991. This is the ‘Duty of Care’ and it applies to anyone who produces, imports, carries, keeps, treats or disposes of controlled waste from business or industry or acts as a waste broker in this respect.

When applied to waste disposal it effects any business. In basic terms, you should ensure that:

• All waste is stored and disposed of responsibly
• Waste is only handled or dealt with by individuals or businesses that are authorised
  to deal with it
• A record is kept of all waste received or transferred through a system of signed
• Waste Transfer Notes (WTN).

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