PPS Metal Recycling was sentenced at Grimsby Magistrates’ Court on 1 September 2026 after previously pleading guilty to breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.
The company was also ordered to pay £6,181 in costs.
The incident occurred on 6 February 2025, when the two members of the public were unloading scrap metal at the site while a 360-degree excavator fitted with a grab attachment was operating nearby.
As the excavator removed material from a large stockpile of scrap metal, part of the pile collapsed causing heavy pieces of scrap to fall on the two men.
Both were taken to hospital, with one sustaining a broken leg.
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found the excavator had been operating close to members of the public for around 20 minutes before the incident.
The HSE found that PPS Metal Recycling had failed to put suitable controls in place to prevent members of the public from being exposed to risks created by moving machinery and unstable stockpiles.
HSE Inspector Joe Fitzgerald, who led the investigation, said: “These two members of the public were fortunate not to have been even more seriously injured or killed.
“This incident was entirely avoidable. Members of the public should not have been exposed to the risks created by heavy machinery and unstable stockpiles.”
Prohibition Notice served to metal recycler
The investigation also found that the incident followed an earlier near miss on 27 January 2025.
On that occasion, the rotating cab of the same excavator struck the side of a member of the public’s vehicle while they were unloading scrap.
No one was injured in the earlier incident, but the HSE said the underlying failures were the same.
Following the February incident, the HSE served a Prohibition Notice preventing the excavator from operating close to pedestrians.
PPS Metal Recycling subsequently introduced a separate area for members of the public to unload scrap, along with signage and a supervised unloading system.
The company also developed a traffic management plan incorporating barriered walkways to segregate pedestrians from workplace transport and mobile plant.
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