Recycling firm in court after worker loses leg under truck

Date:

21 June 2010

Release No:

HSE/NW/31WSR

A Cheshire recycling company has been fined £10,000 after a worker lost part of his leg when he was crushed by an 18-tonne truck.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecuted WSR Recycling Ltd after the incident, which led to the worker's left leg being amputated below the knee.

The recycling site site where the worker was crushed by an 18-tonne truck

The 46-year-old man, who has asked not to be named, was working in a tipping bay at the company's Ditton Road site in Widnes on 14 September 2009 when he was struck by a Volvo L110E articulated shovel loader.

WSR Recycling admitted it did not ensure pedestrians and vehicles could move around the bay safely when it appeared before Halton Magistrates' Court in Runcorn on 21 June 2010.

Chris Goddard, the investigating inspector for HSE, said:

"This worker has suffered a life-long injury as a result of a tragic incident and was very fortunate not to have been killed. He was run over by a very heavy vehicle, so his injuries could easily have been much worse.

"It was foreseeable that pedestrians would be working in the same area as trucks, and so measures should have been taken to manage the risks. The site should have been properly supervised so that workers were kept away from moving vehicles.

"Waste companies cannot afford to relax about safety, and risk developing bad habits as a result."

WSR Recycling pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 17 of the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992. The company was ordered to pay £6,338 towards the cost of the prosecution in addition to the fine.

Figures show that employees in the waste industry are ten times more likely to be killed at work, and four times as likely to be involved in an accident. Information on improving safety is available at www.hse.gov.uk/waste.

Notes to editors

1. Regulation 17 of the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 states: "Every workplace shall be organised in such a way that pedestrians and vehicles can circulate in a safe manner [and]...suitable measures are taken to ensure that...where vehicles and pedestrians use the same traffic route, there is sufficient separation between them."
2. Photos of the scene of the incident are available on request.
3. The Health and Safety Executive is Britain's national regulator for workplace health and safety. It aims to reduce work-related death, injury and ill health. It does so through research, information and advice; promoting training; new or revised regulations and codes of practice; and working with local authority partners by inspection, investigation and enforcement. www.hse.gov.uk

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