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

Brief Summary

HSE prosecuted a waste and recycling company after it found multiple serious health and safety failings, including skips stacked three high in areas regularly accessed by workers, and poor arrangements for safe movement of vehicles and pedestrians. Enforcement had previously been used, making the continued risks more significant.

What Was The Incident?

HSE visited a waste and recycling site in August 2022 and observed vehicles, including tipper lorries and loading shovels, moving around the site without effective control of pedestrian movement. The pedestrian entrance was secured with a chain and padlock, forcing pedestrians to use the vehicle route used by lorries and other vehicles. There were no effective segregation arrangements using designated pedestrian routes or crossing points. Although the employer had a traffic plan, it was not available for staff or visitors and was out of date because site layouts had changed. The plan did not cover key pedestrian movements, including access across the yard to toilets. HSE also found skips stacked unsafely. Some were deformed, the stacking reached three high in places, and the higher and unstable stacks increased the likelihood of collapse or falling. Skips were positioned in an area regularly accessed by workers on foot or in vehicles.

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 had previously served improvement notices during a follow up visit after concerns were raised, requiring action within a specified timescale to remedy breaches. HSE also noted that earlier enforcement had been carried out in 2019, including prohibition notices relating to stockpiling and risks of collapse.

Key Points To Consider

Ensure real segregation between pedestrians and vehicles. Pedestrian routes must be designated, managed and kept separate where reasonably practicable, especially where lorries and other large plant move around the yard and reversals may be involved.

Keep site traffic plans accessible and current. A traffic plan is only useful if it is visible to those using the site and updated when site layouts change, including changes that affect how people move to facilities such as toilets.

Control skip storage to prevent collapse and falling. Skips must not be stacked in a way that creates instability or height that increases the risk of collapse or objects falling, and deformed skips should not be treated as acceptable for stacking.

Avoid placing hazardous materials in frequent access areas. If workers regularly pass through the same areas as stored equipment, the storage arrangement must be reviewed so that people are not exposed to the consequences of items falling.

Address repeat failures after earlier enforcement. Where enforcement action has already been taken for similar risks, the expectation to implement and sustain compliant arrangements is higher, and continued unsafe practices can lead to prosecution.

HSE Prosecution Link