Waste Company Fined After Unsafe Skip Stockpiling and Poor Vehicle Pedestrian Separation

Brief Summary

HSE found multiple health and safety failures at a waste and recycling site, including inadequate vehicle and pedestrian segregation and skips stacked in a way that increased the risk of collapse. The employer was fined and ordered to pay costs after pleading guilty to offences.

What Was The Incident?

During an HSE inspection in August 2022, vehicles and loading equipment were driven around the site without effective arrangements to separate pedestrians from vehicles. The pedestrian entrance was chained and padlocked, forcing pedestrians to use routes also used by lorries and other vehicles. Although a visual traffic plan existed, it was not visible to staff or visitors and had not been updated to reflect changes to the site layout, including pedestrian access to toilets. Inspectors also found skips unsafely stacked, with some deformed, in places piled three high. The stacked skips were located in an area regularly accessed by workers on foot and in vehicles, increasing the risk of falls and collapse.

What Was The Outcome?

After improvement notices required corrective action, HSE carried out further investigation. The employer had previously been subject to enforcement action, with prohibition notices served in 2019 related to stockpiling and collapse risk. The employer pleaded guilty to two offences under section 33 one a of the Act for failing duties under sections 2 and 3 by exposing people on site to risk of death and serious personal injury. It was fined £167,000 and ordered to pay £16,195 in costs.

Key Points To Consider

Segregate pedestrians from vehicles effectively. Ensure people on foot use designated routes and crossing points where vehicles operate, rather than being forced onto vehicle access ways.

Keep traffic management information visible and current. A traffic plan must be easily seen by staff and visitors and updated when the site layout changes, so it still covers key pedestrian movements.

Control skip storage to prevent collapse and falling. Avoid stockpiling skips in unsafe stacks, including where deformation and excessive height increase instability and the consequences of collapse.

Avoid placing hazardous storage where people access the area. Do not store skips in locations regularly used by workers on foot or by vehicles, where falling objects could injure people.

Use prior enforcement findings to drive sustained improvement. Where the business has previously received enforcement action, treat it as a warning that control measures must be implemented properly and maintained over time.

HSE Prosecution Link