Waste Company Fined After Unsafely Stockpiling Skips and Poor Site Traffic Management

Brief Summary

HSE inspections found serious health and safety failures at a waste and recycling site, including traffic management arrangements that forced pedestrians to use vehicle routes and skips stacked up to three high in areas regularly accessed by workers. The employer was fined after pleading guilty to offences related to exposing people on site to risks of death or serious injury.

What Was The Incident?

During HSE inspection in August 2022, vehicles and plant were observed moving around the site without effective segregation of pedestrians and vehicles. The pedestrian entrance was closed with a chain and padlock, meaning pedestrians had to use the vehicle entrance route used by lorries and other vehicles, with no designated pedestrian routes or crossing points. Although the employer had a visual traffic plan, it was not visible to staff or visitors and was out of date because site layouts had changed, leaving it unable to address key pedestrian movements, including access across the yard to toilets. HSE also identified skips stacked unsafely, with some deformed and stacked three high in places. The stack height and deformation increased instability, and the skips were positioned in an area regularly accessed by workers on foot or in vehicles, creating a high risk of falls or collapse.

What Was The Outcome?

Following a further HSE visit after improvement notices were served, the employer was investigated and found to have a history of enforcement. Prohibition notices had previously been served in 2019 relating to stockpiling and risks of collapse. 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 in costs. The case highlights enforcement focus where previous enforcement did not lead to effective control of risks.

Key Points To Consider

Ensure real pedestrian and vehicle segregation. Pedestrians and vehicles must be able to circulate safely, with designated pedestrian routes and crossing points, especially where large vehicles and reversing movements occur.

Keep traffic plans current and visible. A traffic plan must be accessible to staff and visitors and updated when site layouts change so it reflects actual pedestrian movements and safe routes across the yard.

Control skip stacking to prevent collapse. Where skips can be heavy and unstable, stacking arrangements must prevent deformation and excessive height, and should avoid placing them in areas regularly accessed by people.

Treat enforcement history as a prompt to improve. Previous prohibition action related to the same type of risk should drive effective remedial measures, not repeated failures to manage stockpiling and collapse hazards.

Address risk severity with proportionate precautions. Consider the worst consequence of a credible event such as a skip collapse, and implement additional precautions where pedestrians and vehicles share complex site areas.

HSE Prosecution Link