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

Brief Summary

HSE found multiple health and safety failures at a waste and recycling site, including skips piled three high in areas accessed by workers and inadequate control of vehicle and pedestrian routes. The employer had previously been subject to enforcement action for similar skip stockpiling risks.

What Was The Incident?

HSE inspectors visiting the site found tipper lorries and loading shovels being driven around without effective separation from pedestrians. The pedestrian entrance was chained and padlocked, forcing pedestrians to use the same route as lorries and other vehicles, with no designated pedestrian routes or crossing points. A visual traffic plan existed but was not available to staff or visitors and was out of date after the site layout changed, so it did not address key pedestrian movements. Inspectors also found skips stacked unsafely, with some deformed and piled up to three high in places, increasing the likelihood of collapse or falling. The skips were located in an area regularly accessed by workers on foot or in vehicles.

What Was The Outcome?

The employer pleaded guilty to two offences under section 33 1 a of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act. It was fined £167,000 and ordered to pay £16,195 costs. HSE had issued improvement notices requiring the company to remedy breaches within a specified timescale, and it had previously been served prohibition notices in 2019 related to stockpiling and risks of collapse.

Key Points To Consider

Separate pedestrians and vehicles effectively. Do not rely on shared access routes, especially where reversing large vehicles or shunting is involved; provide designated pedestrian routes and crossing points that work in practice.

Keep traffic management information current and visible. A traffic plan must be accessible to staff and visitors and updated when the site layout changes so it continues to reflect where people actually need to move.

Control skip storage to prevent collapse and falling. Avoid stacking skips in ways that create instability, including where skips are deformed or where the stack height increases the risk of collapse or items falling.

Avoid placing stored waste where people must regularly go. Keep skip storage away from areas frequently accessed by workers on foot or in vehicles to reduce the likelihood of being struck by a falling skip.

Use previous enforcement findings to prevent repeat failures. Where enforcement action has already highlighted legal duties and risks of collapse, treat it as a clear signal to review and improve controls rather than allowing the same hazards to persist.

HSE Prosecution Link