Waste Company Fined After Unsafely Stockpiling Skips and Poor Vehicle Pedestrian Segregation

Brief Summary

A waste and recycling company was fined after HSE found multiple health and safety failures on site. These included inadequate segregation between vehicles and pedestrians and skips being dangerously stockpiled, creating a potentially catastrophic risk of collapse or falling materials.

What Was The Incident?

During an HSE inspection in August 2022, inspectors observed vehicles moving around the site without effective controls to separate pedestrians from vehicles. The pedestrian entrance was secured, forcing people to use the same route as lorries and other vehicles. Although a visual traffic plan existed, it was not visible to staff or visitors and was out of date because site layout changes had not been reflected, including pedestrian movement to toilets. Inspectors also found skips stacked unsafely, with some deformed and stacked up to three high in places, which increased instability. The skips were located in areas regularly accessed by workers, on foot or by vehicles, exposing people to the risk of a fall or collapse.

What Was The Outcome?

The company pleaded guilty to two offences. It was fined £167,000 and ordered to pay £16,195 in costs. HSE also issued improvement notices requiring corrective action within a specified timescale, following earlier enforcement history including prohibition notices in 2019 related to stockpiling and risks of collapse.

Key Points To Consider

Ensure effective vehicle and pedestrian segregation. Pedestrians must not be channelled onto vehicle routes without safe designated walking routes, crossing points, and controls that prevent interaction between reversing or moving vehicles and people on foot.

Keep traffic plans visible, current, and site specific. A traffic plan must be communicated so workers and visitors can use it, and it must be updated when the site layout changes so it covers real pedestrian movements and access needs.

Manage skip storage to prevent instability and falling. Large heavy containers require robust controls for stacking height, condition, and layout to reduce the risk of collapse or falling, particularly where skips are near areas people frequently access.

Treat high consequence risks as unacceptable. Where a potential event could lead to death or serious injury, the safety approach must be strong enough to prevent it, not just reduce it, given the weight and size of stored materials.

Act promptly on enforcement and previous warnings. If enforcement notices have previously been served for similar failings, improvements must be demonstrably implemented and verified, not left to outdated procedures or incomplete measures.

HSE Prosecution Link