Waste management company fined £514,000 after employee was killed by reversing vehicle

Sanders Plant and Waste Management Limited were fined £514,041(inc.costs) after an employee was fatally injured when he was struck by a reversing JCB loading shovel.
The circumstances were:

• There was a lack of pedestrian and vehicle segregation in the waste shed meaning that pedestrians and vehicles could not circulate in a safe manner. 

• The company had carried out a risk assessment prior to the incident that identified some control measures to reduce the risks from operating the loading shovel and a Fork Lift Truck on site. 

• These control measures had not been fully implemented 

• They were also not sufficient to manage the risk of collision between vehicles and pedestrians. 

• There was no risk assessment

• There was no traffic management plan considering the safe movement of vehicles across the site.

• On 15th June 2015, a wheeled front-loading shovel was being operated in the main waste processing shed at the company’s waste recycling facility.

• The vehicle was loading waste into both a trommel (a large waste separation and sifting machine) and a parked haulage vehicle. 

• During the course of this operation the vehicle struck a site operative who died at the scene from his injuries.

The HSE inspector said:
“The HSE investigation found an inadequate assessment of the risks of vehicle movements in the waste shed and a lack of segregation of vehicles and pedestrians. There are more than 5,000 accidents involving transport in the workplace every year, and, like in this case, sadly, some are fatal. A properly implemented transport risk assessment should have identified sufficient measures to segregate people and vehicles and provide safe facilities.”