Waste Company Fined After Unsafe Skip Stacking and Poor Site Segregation

Brief Summary

HSE identified multiple health and safety failures at a waste and recycling site, including unsafe skip stacking and a lack of effective pedestrian and vehicle segregation. The employer was prosecuted, pleaded guilty, and was fined with additional costs ordered.

What Was The Incident?

HSE visited the site and found vehicles and plant being driven around freely, with pedestrian access blocked by a chained and padlocked entrance. Pedestrians were forced to use the same route as lorries and other vehicles, with no effective segregation through designated pedestrian routes or crossing points. The employer also relied on a traffic plan that was not visible to staff or visitors and was out of date because the site layout had changed. Inspectors observed skips stacked unsafely, with some deformed, stacked up to three high in places, and located in an area regularly accessed by workers on foot or in vehicles. HSE also noted that large vehicles sometimes required reversing, which should have led to additional precautions for people working nearby.

What Was The Outcome?

The employer pleaded guilty to two offences. It was fined £167,000 and ordered to pay £16,195 in costs.

Key Points To Consider

Implement effective pedestrian and vehicle segregation. Make sure pedestrians have safe circulation routes and that vehicles and people are separated using clear, well planned crossing points or routes that are actually used on site.

Keep traffic management plans visible and current. A traffic plan must be accessible to staff and visitors and updated when site configurations change, including key pedestrian movements such as access to welfare facilities.

Control reversal and movement of large vehicles. Where large vehicles reverse, consider additional precautions to protect workers and other people nearby, rather than relying on general arrangements.

Prevent collapse risks from unstable stack heights. Ensure stored items such as skips are stacked safely, account for stability factors such as deformation and height, and avoid locating stacks where they are likely to be struck or where people are regularly present.

Act promptly on enforcement history and improvement notices. If the regulator has previously identified serious risks, treat new enforcement and improvement notices as a prompt to put robust controls in place without delay and ensure they are maintained.

HSE Prosecution Link