Waste Company Fined After Unsafe Skip Stockpiling and Poor Traffic Management

Brief Summary

HSE found multiple health and safety failures at a waste and recycling site, including skips piled three high in areas workers regularly accessed, and poor segregation between vehicles and pedestrians. The employer had previous enforcement history about stockpiling and collapse risks, yet the risks remained. The business was prosecuted, fined, and ordered to pay costs.

What Was The Incident?

During an HSE inspection in August 2022, inspectors observed vehicles including tipper lorries and loading shovels moving freely around the site. Pedestrian access was managed through a chained and padlocked pedestrian entrance, forcing pedestrians to use the vehicle route. There was no effective segregation using designated pedestrian routes or crossing points. A visual traffic plan was not visible to staff or visitors and was out of date because the site layout had changed, including pedestrian movements to toilets. Inspectors also found skips stacked unsafely, some deformed and piled up to three high, increasing the likelihood of collapse or a falling load. The skips were located in areas regularly accessed by workers on foot or in vehicles, which placed people at risk if a stack failed.

What Was The Outcome?

The employer pleaded guilty to two offences under section 33(1)(a) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. It was fined £167,000 and ordered to pay £16,195 in costs. HSE also served improvement notices requiring corrective actions within specified timescales, and noted that prohibition notices had previously been served in 2019 relating to stockpiling and collapse risk.

Key Points To Consider

Implement effective segregation of pedestrians and vehicles. Ensure pedestrians have safe routes and crossing arrangements, and do not rely on people sharing the same access paths as large vehicles without proper control measures.

Keep traffic management plans current and usable. A visual traffic plan must be visible to those who need it and updated when site layouts or movements change so it reflects how pedestrians and vehicles actually travel.

Control skip storage to prevent collapse and falling loads. Avoid stacking skips in a way that increases instability, including preventing deformed skips from being part of a stack and reducing stack heights where risk is increased.

Do not place high risk materials where people regularly access. Keep stacked waste units out of areas that workers and vehicles use frequently, and consider the consequence if collapse occurs when setting storage locations.

Act quickly on enforcement and previous warnings. Previous enforcement action indicates the duty is well understood, so improvement notices and earlier prohibition decisions should drive timely corrective action rather than allowing risks to persist.

HSE Prosecution Link