Waste Company Fined for Unsafe Skip Stockpiling and Poor Site Traffic Management

Brief Summary

The employer was prosecuted following HSE findings at a waste site where vehicles and pedestrians were managed unsafely and skips were stockpiled in unstable stacks. The case highlights the need for effective traffic management, safe loading arrangements, and prompt correction of known risks, including where prior enforcement has already identified similar failings.

What Was The Incident?

HSE inspectors attended the site and found tipper lorries and loading shovels driving around the yard. Pedestrian access was chained and padlocked, forcing people to use routes used by lorries and other vehicles. There was no effective segregation through designated pedestrian routes or crossing points. Although a visual traffic plan existed, it was not visible to staff or visitors and had become out of date after site configuration changes, including movements needed to access toilets. Inspectors also found skips stacked unsafely, with some skips deformed and stacked up to three high in places. The instability risk was described as potentially catastrophic if collapse occurred. Skips were positioned in areas regularly accessed by workers on foot or in vehicles, creating a high risk of falling.

What Was The Outcome?

The employer pleaded guilty to two offences under the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. It was fined £167,000 and ordered to pay £16,195 in costs. HSE also noted that the company had previously been subject to enforcement action, including prohibition notices in 2019 relating to stockpiling and risks of collapse.

Key Points To Consider

Ensure pedestrians and vehicles are effectively segregated. Do not route people through vehicle movements. Provide designated pedestrian routes and crossing arrangements so pedestrians can circulate safely, particularly where vehicles operate around the site.

Keep traffic plans visible and current. A traffic management plan must be communicated in practice. If the site layout changes, update the plan and ensure staff and visitors can clearly see and follow it, including routes needed for everyday access such as toilet access.

Control skip storage to prevent collapse and falling hazards. Large items such as skips should not be stacked in ways that increase instability. Check for deformation, avoid excessive stacking heights where collapse risk increases, and keep skips out of areas regularly accessed by workers on foot or in vehicles.

Act quickly after improvement notices and prior enforcement. Where improvement notices are served, address the breaches within the timescales given and verify that controls are working. If the business has already received earlier enforcement on similar issues, treat that as a clear warning to reassess and strengthen arrangements.

Plan for the seriousness of vehicle and storage hazards. When reversing vehicles operate near people, implement additional precautions as needed. Consider worst case consequences and remove or reduce risks so that a single failure does not lead to death or serious injury.

HSE Prosecution Link