In the case brought by the HSE, Halton Magistrates' Court heard about the incident which took place at WSR's Ditton Road site in Widnes on September 14 2009 and led to an employee having his left leg being amputated below the knee.
The 46-year-old employee, who wished the remain unnamed, had been working in a tipping bay at the Ditton Road site when he was struck by a Volvo L110E articulated shovel loader.
WSR admitted it did not ensure pedestrians and vehicles could move around the bay safely and pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 17 of the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992. The regulation requires employers to ensure pedestrians and vehicles can “circulate in a safe manner” and suitable measures are taken to ensure a “sufficient separation between them”.
In addition to the £10,000 fine, the waste management firm was also ordered to pay £6,338 towards the cost of the prosecution.
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.
WSR Recycling could not be reached for comment at the time of publication. WSR was formed as Widnes Skip and Reclaim in 1990 and currently handles 115,000 tonnes of waste each year.
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