Waste Company Fined After Unsafely Stockpiled Skips and Weak Traffic Controls

Brief Summary

HSE visited a waste and recycling site and found multiple health and safety failures, including skips stacked three high in areas used by workers and inadequate separation between pedestrians and vehicle routes. The employer was prosecuted, pleaded guilty, and was fined with additional costs, following earlier enforcement action relating to stockpiling and collapse risks.

What Was The Incident?

During an inspection of the site, HSE observed vehicles moving freely around the yard with no effective segregation between pedestrians and vehicles. The pedestrian entrance was secured, and pedestrians were required to use the same route as lorries and other vehicles. HSE also found a traffic plan that was not visible to staff or visitors and was out of date after site changes, including missing key details about pedestrian access across the yard to toilets. In addition, skips were stacked unsafely with some deformed, creating instability. Stacks were three high in places and were located in an area regularly accessed by workers on foot or in vehicles, increasing the risk of collapse or falling.

What Was The Outcome?

The employer pleaded guilty to two offences under s33(1)(a) and was fined £167,000. It was also ordered to pay £16,195 in costs. HSE enforcement action included improvement notices after the initial inspection, and HSE noted that prohibition notices had previously been served in 2019 about stockpiling and risks of collapse.

Key Points To Consider

Ensure skips and heavy materials are stored to prevent collapse. Where skips can be damaged or deformed, and where stacks are high, employers should review stacking arrangements to prevent instability and falling, especially in areas that people regularly access.

Separate pedestrians from vehicles with clear, effective arrangements. Workplaces must be organised so people can move safely. If pedestrians must share routes with large vehicles, the segregation should be strengthened using designated pedestrian routes and crossing points, rather than relying on ad hoc movement.

Keep traffic management information visible and current. A traffic plan is not enough if staff and visitors cannot see it. It must be updated to reflect changes to the site layout, including key pedestrian movements such as access to facilities.

Plan for additional risk where reversing and large vehicles operate. When large vehicles reverse or operate around workplaces, additional precautions may be needed to protect workers nearby, in line with the hazards created by vehicle movements.

Act on prior enforcement and treat repeat issues as high risk. HSE highlighted that earlier enforcement action had already brought the employer’s legal duties to its attention, yet similar issues were still found, showing the importance of closing out control failures rather than waiting for further enforcement.

HSE Prosecution Link