Waste Company Fined After Unsafe Skip Stockpiling and Weak Traffic Management

Brief Summary

HSE found multiple health and safety failings at a waste and recycling site, including ineffective traffic management that forced pedestrians to share routes with vehicles and unsafe skip stockpiling stacked three high in places. The employer had improvement notices and previous enforcement history relating to stockpiling, and it later pleaded guilty to offences under health and safety law. The case highlights the need for robust, site specific arrangements that keep people separated from vehicles and control risks from unstable waste storage.

What Was The Incident?

During an HSE visit in August 2022, inspectors observed vehicles and loading activities moving around the site, with no effective segregation for pedestrians. The pedestrian entrance was chained and padlocked, meaning pedestrians had to use the vehicle entrance route used by lorries and other vehicles. Although a visual traffic plan existed, it was not visible to staff or visitors and had become out of date after changes to the site layout, including pedestrian movements such as access to toilets. Inspectors also found skips stacked unsafely, some deformed, with stacks up to three high in places. The instability risk was increased by both the deformed skips and the stack height, and skips were located in areas regularly accessed by workers on foot or in vehicles, creating risk of falls and potential collapse.

What Was The Outcome?

After improvement notices were served requiring actions within specified timescales, further investigation confirmed the breaches. The employer pleaded guilty to two offences. It was fined £167,000 and ordered to pay £16,195 in costs. HSE noted the company had previously been subject to enforcement action, including prohibition notices in 2019 related to stockpiling and collapse risks.

Key Points To Consider

Provide effective segregation between pedestrians and vehicles. Ensure people can move around the site using designated pedestrian routes and crossings, rather than sharing vehicle routes, especially where reversing and loading by large vehicles occur.

Keep traffic management plans visible and current. A plan that is not visible to staff or visitors, or that is out of date after site layout changes, will not control risks. Review and update arrangements when access routes and site configurations change.

Control collapse risks from stacked waste skips. Treat the size and weight of skips as a serious hazard. Avoid stacking practices that increase instability, including placing deformed skips into tall stacks that can collapse.

Do not store unstable loads where people routinely pass. Position skips and other stored waste so that they are not in areas regularly accessed on foot or by vehicles, reducing the likelihood of falling objects and the consequences if collapse occurs.

Use enforcement history as a trigger for effective change. Where earlier enforcement action has already identified similar risks, ensure the same failures are not repeated. Improvement must be sustained and verified, not just addressed on paper.

HSE Prosecution Link