Risk, Health and Safety Information

Companies fined after waste centre incident

Two London companies have been ordered to pay nearly £110,000 in fines and costs after a lorry driver sustained life-changing injuries when he fell down a processing chute at a waste recycling plant.

The Old Bailey was told the agency worker, then 49, was employed by ICSL Accord Ltd as a skip lorry driver. He was tipping rubbish into a deep waste chute at Hornsey Street Waste and Recycling Centre in Islington when he fell ten metres from the rear of the vehicle down the chute.

The incident, on 3 December 2007, was investigated by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), which prosecuted both ICSL Accord and the centre's operators, London Waste Ltd, for serious safety failings.

The court heard that the worker, from Islington, who does not want to be named, sustained life threatening injuries. He was treated at the Whittington Hospital for fractures to two vertebrae and was in a spine brace for nine months, unable to work.

An independent medical report suggested the man would never be able to return to his career as a HGV driver. He now walks with a limp and is limited in the range of activities he can undertake.

HSE told the court that in 2006 London Waste sites, including Hornsey Street, were inspected and audited. HSE inspectors recommended the company reassessed its tipping arrangements and avoided work at height by directing drivers to tip their loads into flat bays.

The incident could have been prevented had that procedure been in place, and the company has since made improvements to ensure it is.

HSE found that ICSL failed to give some employees sufficient training in how to safely tip rubbish at the site; London Waste failed to monitor non-compliance of site safety rules, and both companies failed to cooperate and coordinate site activities.

London Waste Ltd, of Advent Way, Edmonton, was fined £40,000 and ordered to pay £34,265 in costs after being found guilty of breaching Section 3(1) of the Health & Safety at Work etc Act 1974.

ICSL Accord Ltd, of Albany Way, Welwyn Garden City, was fined £24,000 with £11,241 in costs after pleading guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the same legislation.

After sentencing, HSE Inspector Neil Fry said:

"This was a life-changing incident with devastating consequences for the agency worker. It is also one that could have been prevented had both firms ensured that adequate safety measures were in place, which are so important in the waste and recycling sector.

"Companies must manage risks through training, instruction, supervision and monitoring, and adopting safe working practices. When companies like London Waste Ltd and ICSL Accord Ltd share sites, it is essential they cooperate and coordinate the management of health and safety with one another."