North Tyneside council fined £40,000 after man is killed by refuse truck

Date:

22 October 2008

Release No:

NE/452/08

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is warning the waste industry to ensure that adequate precautions are taken to prevent injuries caused by reversing waste and recycling collection vehicles. The warning follows HSE’s prosecution of North Tyneside Council after a man was killed by a refuse truck.

The council was today fined £40,000 and ordered to pay £7,365 costs at Newcastle Crown Court after earlier pleading guilty to a breach of Section 3 of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 at North Tyneside Magistrates’ Court.

On May 2, 2006, a member of the public, Brian Kindred, was killed after a refuse truck hit him near his home in Allanville, Camperdown, as it was reversing.

HSE Inspector Stephen Britton said:

"This is a tragic case where we found that the council’s safety management procedures were not adequate. There was no supervision in place, training was cursory and did not cover guiding vehicles in any way.

"Had the council followed the simple and straight forward control measures that have been specifically designed for the waste and recycling industry such as, training their operators to warn the driver about pedestrians walking close to the vehicle, Mr Kindred would not have died."

 Notes to editors

1. Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 states:
   "It shall be the duty of every employer to conduct his undertaking in such a way as to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that persons not in his employment who may be affected thereby are not thereby exposed to risks to their health or safety".
2. The guidance "Waste and recycling vehicles in street collection" (www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/waste04.pdf [507KB] ) sets out the full range of control measures that can eliminate or reduce the risks from operating collection vehicles in the street.  This was drawn up by The Health and Safety Executive and the Waste Industry Safety and Health (WISH) Forum. 
3. WISH consists of representatives of the public, private and community sectors, professional bodies, trade unions, manufacturers, the Health and Safety Executive and other government bodies.  It has produced a range of guidance which can be found on HSE’s website at www.hse.gov.uk/waste/information.htm

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