Waste Company Fined After Skips Stockpiled And Pedestrian Safety Fails

Brief Summary

HSE found multiple site management failures at a waste and recycling facility, including dangerous skip stockpiling, inadequate pedestrian vehicle segregation, and a traffic plan that was not available to staff and did not reflect the current site layout. With improvement notices and prior enforcement history already in place, the employer pleaded guilty and was fined for breaches of health and safety duties.

What Was The Incident?

During an HSE visit in August 2022, inspectors observed vehicles and machinery being driven around the site without effective separation from people on foot. The pedestrian entrance was chained and padlocked, so pedestrians had to use the same route as lorries and other vehicles, with no designated pedestrian routes or crossing points. Although a visual traffic plan existed, it was not visible to staff or visitors and was out of date because the site configuration had changed. Inspectors also found skips stacked unsafely, with some deformed and stacked up to three high in places. The instability risks were increased by the height of the stack and the fact the skips were 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 of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act. It was fined £167,000 and ordered to pay £16,195 in costs. HSE also previously served prohibition notices in 2019 related to stockpiling and risks of collapse, and improvement notices were served following the August 2022 findings.

Key Points To Consider

Segregate pedestrians and vehicles effectively. Ensure designated pedestrian routes and crossing points exist and are used, so people can move around the site without relying on the same routes as lorries and other vehicles.

Make traffic plans usable and current. A traffic plan must be visible to staff and visitors and updated when site layouts change, including routes relevant to key pedestrian movements such as access across the yard and to welfare facilities.

Control skip storage to prevent collapse and falling. Avoid stockpiling skips in areas accessed by workers or vehicles, and treat skip deformation and stacking height as indicators of instability that require corrective action.

Learn from prior enforcement and earlier guidance. If enforcement action has previously been taken for similar risks, review and strengthen site controls rather than assuming compliance has been maintained.

Plan for the realities of reversing and mixed traffic. Where large vehicles reverse, employers must consider additional precautions and implement them where needed to protect people working nearby and those entering or moving through the site.

HSE Prosecution Link