County Durham firm fined after worker struck by waste vehicle

Published HSE:  August 2011

A County Durham waste and recycling company has been prosecuted for safety failings after a worker was seriously injured when a vehicle reversed into him.

The 25-year-old, from Blackhall, who has asked not be named, was working in a sorting shed at First Skips Ltd in Shotton Colliery when the incident occurred on 8 October 2009.

He was sorting recyclable material by hand from the area where dry waste was deposited. A telescopic materials handler was being operated close by. As the driver of the vehicle carried out his operations, he reversed into the area where the other employee was working. The vehicle struck the employee and knocked him to the ground.

The worker suffered a broken shoulder, two fractured toe bones and a cracked rib. He was off work for several months but has since made a full recovery.

Victoria Wise, prosecuting on behalf of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), told Peterlee Magistrates' Court the company had failed to ensure that a safe system of work was in place for the hand sorting of recyclables near moving vehicles, despite the fact that this activity made up a substantial part of the company's daily undertaking.

First Skips Ltd, of Thornley Station Industrial Estate, Shotton Colliery, was fined £3,350 and ordered to pay £3,528.70 in costs after pleading guilty to breaching the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974.

Speaking after the case, HSE Inspector Victoria Wise, commented:

"The injured worker was lucky not to be killed as a result of this incident, which could have easily been avoided had the company implemented a safe system of work that segregated moving vehicles from pedestrians.

"Workplace transport can pose a significant risk of substantial harm if it isn't properly controlled, and the general safety measures that can be implemented are well known in the industry. There is no excuse for not having a safe system of work in place.

"This prosecution should act as a wake up call to those, particularly in the waste and recycling industry, who are failing to effectively manage health and safety."

The waste and recycling sector is one of the most dangerous industries with 38 fatalities reported in the five years 2005 - 2010. Approximately 50% of these were due to being struck by a moving vehicle. HSE wants to see sensible risk management become an everyday part of good business management in the industry.

Notes to editors

• The Health and Safety Executive is Britain's national regulator for workplace health and safety. It aims to prevent death, injury and ill health. It does so through research, information and advice, promoting training, new or revised regulations and codes of practice, and working with local authority partners by inspection, investigation and enforcement. http://www.hse.gov.uk/
• HSE Inspector Victoria Wise is available for interviews upon request. Media please note the injured worker does not wish to be identified.
• First Skips Ltd was fined £3,350 for breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, which states: "It shall be the duty of every employer to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare at work of all his employees."
• The court also ordered First Skips Ltd to pay a separate £15 victim surcharge, the proceeds of which will be spent on services for victims and witnesses.
• For further information on deaths in the waste industry see http://www.hse.gov.uk/press/2011/hse-fatalstatswaste.htm

Back to 2011 News