Waste Company Fined After Unsafe Skip Stockpiling and Poor Site Traffic Controls

Brief Summary

HSE prosecuted an employer after inspecting a waste and recycling site and finding multiple health and safety failures. These included skips stacked three high with deformation and weak segregation between pedestrians and vehicles, creating a potentially catastrophic risk of collapse.

What Was The Incident?

During an HSE visit on 11 August 2022, inspectors observed vehicles, including tipper lorries and loading shovels, moving around the site. Pedestrian access was blocked by a chained and padlocked entrance, forcing pedestrians to use the same route as lorries and other vehicles. There were no effective 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 Although the employer had a visual traffic plan, it was not visible to staff or visitors and was out of date because the site layout had changed, including routes to key welfare areas such as toilets. Inspectors also found skips stacked unsafely, with some deformed and stacked three high in places. The stacking increased the likelihood of collapse or falling, and the skips were located in an area regularly accessed by workers either 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 1974. The company was fined £167,000 and ordered to pay £16,195 in costs. HSE had previously served prohibition notices in 2019 relating to stockpiling and the risk of collapse. Following the initial concerns, HSE served improvement notices and later carried out a further visit to check progress.

Key Points To Consider

Provide real segregation between vehicles and pedestrians. If pedestrians must be on a site with moving vehicles, ensure there are clear designated routes and crossing points, and do not rely on shared routes where pedestrian and vehicle movements mix.

Keep site traffic plans visible and accurate. A traffic plan must be current and communicated so staff and visitors can follow it, especially when site layout changes affect pedestrian movement and welfare access.

Control the risk from unstable storage such as skip stacking. Check that storage is stable and safe for the loads involved, and treat deformation and excessive stacking height as clear indicators that a collapse or falling object risk is increasing.

Remove hazards from areas workers access regularly. Do not place unstable or hazardous items in locations that workers regularly need to use on foot or in vehicles, since a fall or collapse can expose people to severe injury.

Respond properly to previous enforcement and improvement notices. Where earlier prohibition action has already highlighted failures, strengthen management of risks rather than treating notices as a one off task, and make sure corrective actions address the specific issues identified by HSE.

HSE Prosecution Link