Industry Wide Lessons for Worker Safety on Waste & Recycling Sites : £1m Fine for Veolia Over 2013 Death of Waste Site Employee

Veolia ES (UK) Limited of Pentonville Road, London has been fined £1 million and ordered to pay £130,000 costs over the death of an employee who was run over in 2013.

Canterbury Crown Court heard how, on 18 October 2013, employee Mr John Head suffered fatal injuries when he was run over by a reversing refuse collection vehicle (RCV) whilst he was walking across the yard, at the Ross Depot Waste Transfer Station in Folkestone. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) into the incident found that multiple vehicles, including RCVs and articulated trucks, were manoeuvring around the yard with no specific controls.

HSE said that the company failed to adequately assess the risks involved in the yard and did not implement industry recognised control measures to protect employees.

The company was found guilty after a trial of breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and fined £1 million and ordered to pay costs of £130,000.

HSE inspector Kevin Golding said: “This should be a reminder to all industries, but in particular, the waste industry, to appropriately assess the risks and implement widely recognised control measures to adequately control manoeuvring vehicles, in particular reversing vehicles and restrict pedestrian movements around vehicles.”

The Health and Safety Executive is Britain’s national regulator for workplace health and safety. It aims to prevent work-related death, injury and ill health through regulatory actions that range from influencing behaviours across whole industry sectors through to targeted interventions on individual businesses.

Further guidance can be found at Vehicles at work

Read More

BLOG: Waste & Recycling Professional – A Job to Die For?

Malcolm Bates discusses the shocking 50% increase in deaths in the UK’s waste and recycling industry from 2016 to 2017 and calls for the global industry to get the issue ‘out in the open’.

‘Slow Down To Get Around’ Bill Signed Into Law in Maryland

Maryland Governor Hogan is to sign a bill, Operation When Approaching Vehicle with Visual Signals, into law, making it the 18th state to pass the legislation.

Five to Stay Alive: Latest Safety Materials for Recycling Facility Workers from SWANA

SWANA has developed a new instalment to its ‘Five to Stay Alive’ series that features safety tips for Material Recycling Facility employees.