Waste Company Fined After Unsafe Skip Stockpiling and Poor Traffic Segregation

Brief Summary

HSE found multiple health and safety failures at a waste and recycling site, including inadequate separation of vehicles and pedestrians and skips being stockpiled unsafely in areas regularly used by workers. The employer had previously faced enforcement action for similar risks, but improvements were not sufficient to prevent further breaches. It pleaded guilty to offences and was fined with additional costs awarded.

What Was The Incident?

On 11 August 2022, HSE inspectors visited a waste and recycling site and observed tipper lorries and loading shovels being driven around the yard without effective traffic management to protect pedestrians. The pedestrian entrance was chained and padlocked, forcing pedestrians to use the same route as lorries and other vehicles. There were no designated pedestrian routes or crossing points, despite the legal requirement for workplaces to be organised so vehicles and pedestrians can move safely. A visual traffic plan was present but was not visible to staff or visitors and was out of date because the site layout had changed, including pedestrian movements to and from toilets. HSE also found skips stacked in an unstable way, with some deformed skips and stacks three high in places. The risk of collapse was described as potentially catastrophic, and the skips were located in an area regularly accessed by workers on foot or in vehicles, increasing the chance of falling and injury.

What Was The Outcome?

The employer pleaded guilty to two offences under section 33 one a of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. It was fined £167,000 and ordered to pay £16,195 costs. HSE had previously served prohibition notices in 2019 relating to skip stockpiling and the risk of collapse, and improvement notices were served after the 2022 visit requiring action within specified timescales.

Key Points To Consider

Separate pedestrians and vehicles effectively. Do not rely on improvised movement routes where pedestrians must use vehicle paths. Provide designated pedestrian routes and crossing points and ensure segregation is actually effective on site.

Keep traffic management arrangements current and visible. A traffic plan is only useful if staff and visitors can see it and it reflects the current site layout and how people move, including routes for welfare access.

Control reversing and vehicle movements with additional precautions. Where large vehicles must reverse or operate around people, plan for additional precautions to protect those working nearby and implement them where appropriate.

Prevent unsafe skip stacking and assess collapse risk. Treat the stability of stockpiled skips as a serious hazard. Avoid stacking arrangements that increase the likelihood of collapse, including excessive height and the use of deformed skips, and ensure the location does not expose workers to falling risks.

Act on enforcement history and improvement notices. Prior enforcement relating to stockpiling risks should be a trigger to reassess controls and drive lasting improvements rather than making short term fixes that do not address new site conditions.

HSE Prosecution Link