Waste Company Fined After Dangerous Skip Stockpiling and Poor Vehicle Pedestrian Controls

Brief Summary

HSE identified multiple health and safety failings at a waste and recycling site, including skips piled three high, poor pedestrian and vehicle segregation, and a traffic plan that was not visible and had not been updated. The employer pleaded guilty to offences and was fined, with costs ordered.

What Was The Incident?

HSE inspectors visited the site in August 2022 and found vehicles and plant moving around the yard without effective arrangements to separate pedestrians from vehicle movements. The pedestrian entrance was secured so pedestrians had to use the vehicle route used by lorries and other vehicles, with no designated pedestrian routes or crossing points. Although a visual traffic plan existed, it was not visible to staff or visitors and did not reflect changes to the site layout, including pedestrian access across the yard to toilets. Inspectors also found skips stacked in an unsafe way, with some deformed skips increasing instability. In places the stack was three high, raising the risk of collapse or falling, and the skips were located in an area regularly accessed by workers.

What Was The Outcome?

The employer pleaded guilty to two offences. It was fined £167,000 and ordered to pay £16,195 in costs. HSE enforcement action included improvement notices with required timescales, and the investigation noted that previous prohibition notices in 2019 had addressed stockpiling and risks of collapse.

Key Points To Consider

Ensure pedestrians and vehicles are effectively separated. Provide clear designated pedestrian routes and crossing points, and do not rely on pedestrians sharing the same routes used by lorries and other vehicles.

Keep traffic management arrangements current and visible. A traffic plan only works if it is visible to staff and visitors and remains accurate after site layout changes, including routes used to reach welfare facilities.

Control hazards from stored skips and stockpiles. Treat the size and weight of skips as a serious collapse risk and ensure stacking is stable, takes account of any deformation, and is not placed where workers regularly pass on foot or in vehicles.

Strengthen precautions where reversing and vehicle movements create extra risk. Where large vehicles must reverse, employers should consider additional precautions to protect people nearby and implement them where needed.

Use enforcement history to drive immediate compliance improvements. If previous enforcement action has highlighted stockpiling and collapse risks, ensure controls are reviewed, implemented, and maintained rather than repeating known failures.

HSE Prosecution Link