Waste Company Fined After Unsafe Skip Stockpiling and Poor Vehicle Pedestrian Control

Brief Summary

HSE found multiple health and safety failures at a waste and recycling site, including lack of effective segregation between pedestrians and vehicles and unsafe skip stacking. The prosecution matters because the risks included potential skip collapse and serious injury, with enforcement action previously taken for similar issues.

What Was The Incident?

During an HSE inspection in August 2022, inspectors observed vehicles and loading equipment being driven around the yard and noted there was no effective system to separate pedestrians from vehicles. The pedestrian entrance was secured and pedestrians were directed to use the same route as lorries and other vehicles. There was no designated pedestrian route or crossing point. A traffic plan existed but was not available to staff or visitors and was out of date because the yard layout had changed, leaving key pedestrian movements such as access across the yard to toilets uncovered. Inspectors also found skips that were stacked unsafely, with some deformed skips and stacks up to three high in places. The stacking created an increased risk of collapse or a falling skip, and skips were placed in an area regularly accessed by workers either on foot or in vehicles.

What Was The Outcome?

The employer pleaded guilty to two offences under section 33(1)(a). It was fined £167,000 and ordered to pay £16,195 in costs. HSE also previously served improvement notices requiring action within specified timescales, and it had previously issued prohibition notices in 2019 relating to stockpiling and collapse risk.

Key Points To Consider

Provide effective separation between pedestrians and vehicles. Do not rely on chained entrances or shared routes. Use designated pedestrian routes and suitable crossing points so pedestrians are not funnelled into vehicle paths.

Keep traffic arrangements current and usable on site. A written traffic plan is not enough if staff and visitors cannot see it. Review and update traffic control when the yard layout changes so it reflects real pedestrian movements.

Control reversing and movements with additional precautions. Where large vehicles must reverse or move close to people, employers must plan for that risk and put extra precautions in place to protect those working nearby.

Prevent unsafe stacking and collapse of large waste skips. Assess skip stability, stacking heights and deformation risks. Avoid placing skips where workers frequently pass on foot or in vehicles if there is a foreseeable risk of falling or collapse.

Act quickly on enforcement and address repeat failures. Improvement notices and earlier enforcement action should drive prompt, effective change. Repeat non compliance and unresolved hazards will increase enforcement and prosecution risk.

HSE Prosecution Link