Waste Company Fined After Unsafe Skip Stockpiling and Poor Traffic Segregation

Brief Summary

A waste and recycling company was fined after HSE identified serious risks on site, including skips stacked in a way that could collapse and poorly managed segregation between vehicles and pedestrians. HSE also found deficiencies in the traffic management arrangements, including a visual plan that was not available to staff or visitors and was out of date. The case highlights the need for effective, site specific traffic control and safe storage practices, particularly where heavy materials and vehicle movements increase the consequences of failure.

What Was The Incident?

During an HSE visit on 11 August 2022, inspectors observed vehicles and plant, including tipper lorries and loading shovels, moving around the site. The pedestrian entrance was chained and padlocked, forcing pedestrians to use the vehicle route. There were no effective designated pedestrian routes or crossing points to manage vehicle and pedestrian interaction. The company had a visual traffic plan, but it was not visible to staff or visitors and was out of date because the site layout had changed, so it did not cover key pedestrian movements such as access across the yard to toilets. Inspectors also found skips stacked unsafely, with some skips deformed. In places the stack height was three high, increasing the likelihood of collapse or falling, and the skips were located in an area regularly accessed by workers on foot or in vehicles.

What Was The Outcome?

The company was prosecuted for failing to fulfil duties under Section 2 and Section 3 of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 by exposing employees, agency workers and other persons to risk of death and serious personal injury. It pleaded guilty to two offences under s33(1)(a) of the Act. The company was fined £167,000 and ordered to pay £16,195 costs at Southwark Crown Court on 5 May 2026. HSE also served improvement notices requiring action within a specified timescale, and inspectors later revisited 11 days after those notices. HSE noted the company had previously been subject to enforcement action, with prohibition notices served in 2019 relating to stockpiling and risks of collapse.

Key Points To Consider

Ensure vehicles and pedestrians are truly segregated. Do not rely on barriers alone or on pedestrians being directed into vehicle routes; provide clear designated pedestrian routes and appropriate crossing points so people can move safely around the site.

Keep traffic management arrangements current and visible. A traffic plan that is out of date or not visible to staff and visitors will not manage real risks, especially when site configuration changes.

Control storage arrangements for heavy items to prevent collapse. Where skips are stockpiled, assess stability and stack height, and account for factors such as deformation that can undermine safe stacking.

Avoid placing unstable items where people regularly pass. Do not locate skips in areas that workers access on foot or in vehicles without robust controls, since falling or collapse consequences can be catastrophic.

Learn from prior enforcement and close repeating failures. If enforcement action has already identified stockpiling and collapse risks, treat it as a warning to review and correct systems promptly rather than allowing the same hazards to persist.

HSE Prosecution Link