Waste Company Fined for Unsafe Skip Stockpiling and Poor Traffic Control

Brief Summary

HSE found multiple health and safety failures at a waste and recycling site, including skips stacked three high in areas regularly accessed by workers and inadequate separation between pedestrians and vehicles. The employer was previously subject to enforcement action for similar risks.

What Was The Incident?

At the site, vehicles and machinery were driven around freely, including tipper lorries and loading shovels, while pedestrians were forced to use a route shared with vehicle movements because the pedestrian entrance was chained and padlocked. There were no effective designated pedestrian routes or crossing points, and the visual traffic plan was not visible to staff or visitors and was out of date after changes to the site layout, including access routes such as those to toilets. Inspectors also found skips unsafely stacked, with some deformed skips, and stacks reaching three high in places, increasing the likelihood of collapse or falling. The skips were stacked in an area regularly accessed by workers either on foot or in vehicles.

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

Control vehicle and pedestrian movements effectively. Pedestrians and vehicles must be separated using designated routes and crossing points, and shared routes should not be used when they increase exposure to vehicle movements.

Keep traffic plans visible and up to date. A visual traffic plan must be available to the people who need it and revised when site layouts change, including pedestrian movements to key areas like toilet access routes.

Prevent skip collapse through safe stacking. Skip storage must avoid unsafe stacking, including excessive height and damaged or deformed containers, because the consequences of collapse can be severe.

Do not place hazardous storage where people regularly pass. Stacks should not be located in areas that workers access routinely on foot or in vehicles, since this increases the likelihood that people will be exposed to falling or collapsing equipment.

Act promptly when enforcement action highlights the same risk. If a business has previously received enforcement related to collapse risks and stockpiling, it must treat repeat findings as a serious warning and fully remedy the underlying legal failures within required timescales.

HSE Prosecution Link