The Bristol-based company was fined £64,666 and ordered to pay £4,657 in costs at Bristol Magistrates’ Court on 5 June 2026 following a prosecution by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).
The latest case relates to an incident on 27 January 2024 at Bateman Skips’ waste recovery facility in Bristol, where a staff member was attempting to clear a blockage on a conveyor system carrying waste materials.
The employee slipped and made contact with the unguarded tail-end of the conveyor belt, causing his arm to be dragged into the machinery.
He suffered crush injuries, including bone fractures, severe lacerations to his arm, nerve damage and a fractured rib.
In a victim personal statement, the injured worker said: “I used to enjoy riding my bike, playing darts and snooker with my sons, working on cars and I am now unable to do any of these tasks.
“This has been the most traumatic thing I have ever experienced both physically and mentally, and I know it will continue to affect me for the rest of my life.”
An investigation by the HSE found that Bateman Skips had failed to ensure the health, safety and welfare of its employees by failing to prevent access to dangerous parts of machinery and by failing to implement a safe system of work for clearing blockages within the waste recovery facility.
HSE Inspector Laura Artosi commented: “Workers coming into contact with moving machinery is one of the most common causes of workplace fatalities in Great Britain.
“Quite often, this relates to poorly guarded machines and the lack of a robust health and safety management system.
“This wholly preventable incident caused this person and their family physical and emotional pain which has been affecting their lives ever since.”
Second conveyor belt injury at Bateman Skips
The latest fine follows a similar prosecution against Bateman Skips in 2022, which also involved an employee suffering serious injuries while working on conveyor equipment.
Bristol Magistrates’ Court heard that, on 30 May 2018, an employee had been asked to repair a conveyor belt feeding a picking station. While realigning the belt, his arm was drawn into the mechanism.
The worker was rescued by the Fire & Rescue Service.
Bateman Skips pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and was fined £50,000 and ordered to pay costs of £10,205.80.
The latest prosecution means the company has now been fined more than £114,000 across the two cases, both of which involved workers suffering serious arm injuries after becoming caught in conveyor machinery.
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