In a prosecution brought by the Health & Safety Executive (HSE), Preston Crown Court heard on Tuesday (October 13) that SITA UK Ltd, which is still the company’s legal name, failed to provide adequate segregation between pedestrians and moving vehicles at a waste transfer station in Darwen, Lancashire.
According to HSE, as a SITA UK employee walked across an outside hand sorting area for plastics at the site, he passed behind a stationary telehandler, which began to reverse and struck the worker who was knocked to the ground and then run over by the rear wheel of the vehicle.
His resulting injuries caused him to be hospitalised for two months. HSE told the Court that the company had identified the risks but failed to put in place suitable controls to stop people being hit by vehicles.
Speaking after the hearing, HSE inspector Stuart Kitchingman said: “Employers need to look carefully at their workplaces regularly to make sure that pedestrian routes are clearly marked and physically separated from vehicle routes wherever possible.
“The employee could have easily been killed and still has severe mobility problems as a result of the accident. He is unlikely to be able to work in the near future.”
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SITA UK Ltd (now trading as SUEZ) of Grenfell Road, Maidenhead, Berkshire, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and was fined £200,000 with £11,998 costs.
SUEZ
A spokesman for SUEZ said today (October 15) that the company is “deeply disappointed that this incident occurred” and that it “respects the decision of the courts and takes responsibility for the incident”.
In a statement issued today, the firm said: “While there were several mitigating factors, which the court took into account in making its decision, we accept that this regrettable accident, and the injuries sustained by our employee, could and should have been avoided.
“We take the health and safety of all of our employees extremely seriously and have invested significantly over the last few years in improving the management of health and safety across all of our sites, not just in physical and procedural terms but also in culture across the company.”
SUEZ also highlighted its ‘Safety in Mind’ programme implemented in 2009, which it said had made “significant” improvements to its health and safety performance.
The statement added: “It is for this reason that we are deeply disappointed that this incident occurred at Darwen, but wish to assure all of our stakeholders that lessons have been learned from this incident and those lessons shared and applied throughout the business.”
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