Waste Company Fined for Unsafe Skip Stockpiling and Poor Traffic Management

Brief Summary

The case involved multiple site management failures at a waste and recycling operation, including skip stacks piled three high in areas accessed by people and an absence of effective segregation between pedestrians and vehicles. The employer had already been subject to enforcement action in the past, which HSE highlighted as making the breaches more serious.

What Was The Incident?

HSE inspectors attended a waste management site and found tipper lorries and loading shovels being driven around the yard while pedestrian access was chained and padlocked. Pedestrians were forced to use the same route as lorries and other vehicles, with no effective designated pedestrian routes or crossing points. Although a visual traffic plan existed, it was not visible to staff or visitors and was out of date because the site layout had changed, including pedestrian movements such as access across the yard to toilets. Inspectors also observed skips stacked unsafely, with some deformed skips adding instability. In places the stacks were three high, increasing the likelihood of collapse or falling. Skips were located in an area regularly accessed by workers both on foot and in vehicles, placing people at a high risk of being struck by falling skips.

What Was The Outcome?

The employer pleaded guilty to two offences relating to failing to fulfil duties under the relevant Health and Safety at Work Act provisions by putting people on site at risk of death or serious personal injury. The company was fined £167,000 and ordered to pay £16,195 in costs. HSE also issued improvement notices requiring specified actions within a timescale, and the investigation noted that prohibition notices had previously been served in 2019 concerning skip stockpiling and risks of collapse.

Key Points To Consider

Provide effective pedestrian and vehicle segregation. Do not rely on chained off access and shared routes where pedestrians must cross vehicle paths. Use designated pedestrian routes and crossing arrangements so people can move safely around moving vehicles.

Keep traffic management information usable and current. A traffic plan is only effective if it is visible to the people who need it and reflects the current site layout and key pedestrian movements such as access to welfare facilities.

Control the risks from stockpiled heavy materials. Where stored items such as skips are large, heavy, and capable of falling or collapse, treat the storage arrangement as a major risk and position stacks to avoid exposing regular pedestrian and vehicle users.

Prevent unsafe stacking and account for instability. Do not allow deformed skips or unsafe stacking arrangements. Check that storage conditions maintain stability, including the height of stacks and the condition of skips before they are put into service or re stacked.

Use enforcement history to drive compliance improvements. If an employer has previously been subject to enforcement for the same type of hazards, it must treat this as a clear warning and make robust, lasting changes to systems and site controls.

HSE Prosecution Link