Waste Company Fined After Skips Stockpiled and Poor Site Segregation

Brief Summary

HSE found multiple health and safety failings at a waste site, including skips stacked three high in places and pedestrians not effectively separated from vehicles. The employer was previously subject to enforcement relating to stockpiling and collapse risks, yet improvements were not sufficient. Two offences were admitted and the business was fined.

What Was The Incident?

Inspectors visited a waste and recycling site and observed vehicles and machinery moving freely around the yard, including tipper lorries and loading shovels. Pedestrians were forced to use the same entrance route as lorries because the pedestrian entrance was chained and padlocked, and there were no effective 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 Although a visual traffic plan existed, it was not visible to staff or visitors and was out of date because the site layout had changed, so it did not cover key pedestrian movements such as access to toilets across the yard. The inspection also identified skips stacked unsafely, with some deformed skips, stack heights up to three high, and skips positioned in areas regularly accessed by workers on foot or by vehicles, increasing the risk of collapse and falling materials.

What Was The Outcome?

The employer pleaded guilty to two offences and was fined £167,000 plus £16,195 in costs. HSE had previously served prohibition notices in 2019 relating to stockpiling and collapse risk, and after the August 2022 inspection, improvement notices were served requiring corrective action within set timescales. A further HSE investigation followed the later visit.

Key Points To Consider

Segregate people from vehicles using workable site design. Ensure there are clear designated pedestrian routes and crossing points so pedestrians are not forced to use vehicle routes, especially where vehicles and reversing movements operate in the same area.

Keep traffic plans current and make them accessible. A traffic plan is only effective if it is visible to those on site and reflects current layout, including pedestrian movements such as access to welfare facilities across the yard.

Control skip storage to prevent collapse and falling materials. Stack skips safely and do not use damaged or deformed skips, while avoiding stockpiling in areas that workers regularly access on foot or by vehicle.

Take extra precautions where heavy loads could have catastrophic consequences. Recognise that the weight and size of stored items can make the consequences of collapse potentially catastrophic, so risk controls need to be proportionate to that severity.

Prior enforcement should trigger real improvement, not repetition of failures. Where previous enforcement has highlighted legal duties on stockpiling and collapse risks, review and improve arrangements promptly rather than relying on existing controls that may no longer address the current site risks.

HSE Prosecution Link