Risk, Health and Safety Information

Firm fined after worker injured at waste site

A Staffordshire environmental waste company has been fined after an employee was crushed by a reversing vehicle.

The 23-year-old man from Cannock was handpicking waste from a skip at Rugeley Environmental Waste Services Ltd on 5 September 2011 when a skid steer loader reversed into him, pinning him against the skip.

The man suffered soft tissue injuries to his groin and was taken to hospital by air ambulance. He went back to work after several weeks but has since left the company.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) revealed the vehicle was being used in a relatively confined space and no measures were in place to segregate vehicles and pedestrians.

The investigation also revealed the company had failed to carry out a risk assessment of its workplace transport activities.

Rugeley Environmental Waste Services Ltd, of The Embankment, Power Station Road, Rugeley, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 by failing to ensure the safety of employees. Today, Stafford Magistrates' Court fined the firm £5,000 and ordered it to pay costs of £4,306.

After the hearing, HSE Inspector Wayne Owen said:

"Workplace transport is the second biggest cause of death in the workplace. It is vital that risk assessments are carried out where vehicles are involved and suitable control measures put in place to prevent incidents such as this.

"This company had a poor and unsafe system of work. Had the company segregated vehicles and personnel, a man would not have suffered a painful injury."