Waste Company Fined After Unsafe Skip Stockpiling and Weak Traffic Management

Brief Summary

HSE found multiple workplace failures at a waste and recycling site, including poor segregation between vehicles and pedestrians and skips stacked in a way that increased the chance of collapse or falling. The employer had been subject to earlier enforcement for similar issues, making the continued risk of serious injury or death particularly concerning.

What Was The Incident?

During an HSE visit on 11 August 2022, inspectors observed that vehicles and plant were driven freely around the site while pedestrian arrangements were inadequate. The pedestrian entrance was chained and padlocked, forcing pedestrians to use a route intended for lorries and other vehicles. There was no effective segregation using 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 Although a visual traffic plan existed, it was not visible to staff or visitors and was out of date because the site layout had changed, including not covering key pedestrian movements such as access across the yard to toilets.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 was three high, increasing the likelihood of collapse or a skip falling. Skips were stored in an area regularly accessed by workers on foot or in vehicles, placing people at risk if a skip fell.

What Was The Outcome?

The employer pleaded guilty to two offences. It was fined £167,000 and ordered to pay £16,195 in costs. HSE had also served improvement notices requiring action within set timescales, and the investigation found the employer had previously been subject to enforcement action, including prohibition notices in 2019 relating to skip stockpiling and risks of collapse.

Key Points To Consider

Separate people and vehicles with real control measures. Segregation must be effective through designated pedestrian routes and crossing points, not just assumed or partially implemented, especially where pedestrians are forced into vehicle routes.

Keep traffic management information visible and current. Traffic plans must be accessible to staff and visitors and updated when site layouts change, including pedestrian movements such as routes to welfare facilities.

Manage high risk storage to prevent unstable stacking. Where heavy, large items can collapse, ensure stacking is safe and stable, taking account of any deformation and stack height that increases the risk of failure.

Avoid placing unstable items where workers regularly access the area. Keep skip and storage locations out of areas frequently used by workers on foot or by vehicles so that falling or collapse risks are not concentrated where people pass and work.

Respond properly to enforcement history and improve compliance. Previous enforcement action should drive sustained improvement; repeated failures following earlier prohibition notices show that legal duties need to be embedded rather than treated as a one off fix.

HSE Prosecution Link