Waste Company Fined After Skips Stockpiled and Pedestrian Vehicle Segregation Failures

Brief Summary

HSE identified multiple safety failings at a waste and recycling site, including skips stacked three high in areas regularly used by workers and inadequate segregation between pedestrians and vehicles. The employer had improvement notices served and had previously faced enforcement action over similar risks of collapse. The employer pleaded guilty and was fined.

What Was The Incident?

During an HSE inspection, inspectors observed vehicles moving freely around the site, while the pedestrian entrance was chained and padlocked. Pedestrians were forced to use a route intended for lorries and other vehicles, with no effective designated pedestrian routes or crossing points. The employer also had a visual traffic plan, but it was not visible to staff or visitors and was out of date after changes to the site layout. Inspectors found skips stacked unsafely, with some deformed, and in places where they could fall onto people. In some areas 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.

What Was The Outcome?

After a further visit within days of improvement notices requiring action within a specified timescale, HSE concluded the employer had failed in its duties to protect people on site from risks of death or serious personal injury. The employer pleaded guilty to two offences and was fined £167,000, with £16,195 costs ordered.

Key Points To Consider

Control pedestrian routes as carefully as vehicle movements. Where pedestrians must share access with vehicle circulation, you need clear designated routes and crossing arrangements so people are not pushed onto lorry or vehicle paths.

Keep traffic plans current and actually usable on site. A traffic plan that is not visible to staff or visitors, or that does not reflect the current site layout and key pedestrian movements, will not provide effective control.

Prevent skip and load collapse by managing stacking integrity. Skips that are deformed, stacked too high, or placed where they can fall onto workers increase the risk of collapse, including potentially catastrophic outcomes.

Locate stored materials away from frequent access areas. If workers regularly access an area on foot or in vehicles, storage and stockpiling controls must reflect that exposure so people are not put at risk from falling items.

Treat prior enforcement as a trigger for rapid improvement. Where enforcement action has already highlighted legal duties, failure to improve significantly increases enforcement risk and should prompt urgent review and corrective action.

HSE Prosecution Link