Waste Company Fined After Dangerous Skip Stockpiling and Poor Vehicle Pedestrian Control

Brief Summary

HSE found multiple health and safety failures at a waste management and recycling site, including skips stacked three high with signs of deformation and inadequate vehicle pedestrian segregation. The employer had improvement notice requirements and had previously received enforcement action on similar risks.

What Was The Incident?

At a waste and recycling site, tipper lorries and loading shovels were driven around the yard without effective segregation of pedestrians. The pedestrian entrance was chained and padlocked, forcing pedestrians to use the vehicle route used by lorries and other vehicles. The employer had a visual traffic plan, but it was not visible to staff or visitors and was out of date because site arrangements had changed, including movements across the yard to toilets. HSE also found skips stacked unsafely, with some deformed and stacked up to three high in places. The instability risk was increased by the height of the stacks and the fact that the skips were located in an area regularly accessed by workers, either on foot or in vehicles, creating a serious risk of collapse or falling.

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 served improvement notices requiring actions within a specified timescale, and the site had previously been subject to enforcement action, including prohibition notices served in 2019 relating to stockpiling and collapse risks.

Key Points To Consider

Ensure effective segregation of vehicles and pedestrians. Do not rely on verbal expectations or limited access points. Pedestrians must have clearly defined safe routes and crossing points where vehicles operate.

Keep traffic management plans visible and current. A traffic plan is only useful if it is available to those on site and updated to reflect changes in yard layout and pedestrian movement.

Control skip stacking to prevent collapse or falling objects. Inspect skips for signs of deformation and prevent unsafe stacking heights, especially where workers are regularly near the stacks.

Take extra precautions around high risk vehicle movements. Where large vehicles must reverse or manoeuvre, assess the specific risks to people nearby and implement additional measures to protect them.

Treat prior enforcement as a trigger for urgent improvement. If enforcement action has already highlighted duties and risks, update site arrangements and management controls promptly and verify they work in practice.

HSE Prosecution Link