Mitcham firm fined for rubbish safety

Date:

14 November 2012

Release No:

L&SE/205/12

A Mitcham rubbish clearance and skip company has been fined for ignoring safety warnings, leaving staff working on a site in Croydon at risk.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) carried out an inspection at Rubbish Express on Beddington Lane, Croydon, in August 2011 and found that a JCB lift truck had not been thoroughly examined and was operated by staff who had not received adequate training.

The HSE served two Improvement Notices, giving the company until October to provide training and to arrange for a competent engineer to thoroughly examine the telehandler lift truck.

Westminster Magistrates’ Court heard today (14 Nov) that Rubbish Express did not take any action until February 2012.

Rubbish Express Ltd of Graham Road, Mitcham, pleaded guilty to two breaches of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 by failing to comply with two Improvement Notices. It was fined £5,000 for each charge and ordered to pay £3,500 in costs.

After the hearing HSE inspector Clare Hawkes, said:

"Rubbish Express Limited was given sufficient time to provide suitable training to employees operating the telehandler lift truck and to ensure that it was safe to use and properly maintained. Rather than get on with the work, the company delayed taking basic safety steps to protect workers from the risk of serious accidents.

"No one was injured in this case but incidents involving lift trucks are often due to poor supervision and a lack of training. Improvement Notices should be taken seriously – it is an offence not to comply with them."

Almost a quarter of all workplace transport incidents involve forklift trucks. For more information about managing risks around vehicles in the workplace, visit: www.hse.gov.uk/workplacetransport

Notes to editors

1. 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
2. Section 33 (1)(g) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 states that it is an offence to "to contravene any requirement or prohibition imposed by an improvement notice or a prohibition notice (including any such notice as modified on appeal."
3. 3. Further HSE news releases are available at www.hse.gov.uk/press

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