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

Brief Summary

An HSE inspection found multiple site management failures at a waste and recycling operation, including inadequate vehicle and pedestrian segregation and skips stacked three high in areas used by workers and vehicles. The company had improvement notices served after the initial visit, and the later investigation found it had previously been subject to enforcement action over similar risks of stockpiling and collapse.

What Was The Incident?

During an HSE visit in August 2022, inspectors observed tipper lorries and loading shovels being driven around the site, with pedestrians having no effective safe route. The pedestrian entrance was chained and padlocked, and people were required to use the vehicle route used by lorries and other vehicles. There were no designated pedestrian routes or crossing points to provide effective segregation, despite the need for additional precautions where large vehicles reverse. A visual traffic plan existed but was not visible to staff or visitors and was out of date because site arrangements had changed, including access routes to toilets. Inspectors also found skips stacked unsafely, including some that were deformed and stacked up to three high in places. The height and instability increased the likelihood of collapse or falling, and the skips were located in an area regularly accessed by workers on foot or in vehicles, creating significant risk of skips falling onto people.

What Was The Outcome?

The employer pleaded guilty to two offences under s33(1)(a) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 for failing in duties under Sections 2 and 3 by exposing employees, agency workers, and other persons on site to the risk of death or serious personal injury. The company was fined £167,000 and ordered to pay £16,195 in costs. HSE had also previously served prohibition notices in 2019 relating to stockpiling and risks of collapse, and improvement notices were served following the August 2022 inspection requiring action within specified timescales.

Key Points To Consider

Provide effective segregation between pedestrians and vehicles. Make sure pedestrians have designated routes and crossing points where needed so they are not forced to use the same areas as lorries and other vehicles, including during reversing activities.

Ensure traffic plans are visible, current, and reflect site reality. A traffic plan is not enough if staff and visitors cannot see it or if it is out of date after site layout changes, particularly where it fails to account for key pedestrian movements.

Control skip storage to prevent collapse and falling objects. Avoid stacking skips in a way that creates instability or deformed loads, and reduce risk by limiting stacking height and locating skips so they do not form a hazard to people who pass the area regularly.

Use additional precautions for reversing large vehicles. Where large vehicles must reverse, identify the specific risks and implement appropriate extra controls to protect workers and others nearby.

Treat prior enforcement as a clear warning to improve. If enforcement action has already highlighted similar duties and risks, ensure the required changes are implemented and sustained, and not treated as a temporary fix.

HSE Prosecution Link