The global waste firm was also ordered to pay costs of £1,773 and a victim surcharge of £120 following the prosecution at Stafford Magistrates Court yesterday (May 6).
The Court heard how the employee, who wishes to remain anonymous, had been clearing items caught in the conveyor’s forks on May 2 2014 when he fell 8 feet from the unprotected edge.
The employee suffered “life changing injuries” as a result of the incident and has only been able to return to work to perform limited duties.
An investigation launched by the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) found that although clearing the conveyor was a routine part of the job, no risk assessment had been carried out. HSE claims an assessment would have found that ‘obvious edge protection’ was essential.
Veolia ES Staffordshire Ltd pleaded guilty to breaching the Work at Height Regulations 2005 Act and Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations.
‘Preventable’
Speaking after the hearing, HSE inspector Katherine Blunt said: “This incident was entirely preventable, clearing the conveyor in this way was a routine part of the job but no risk assessment had been carried out. If it had it would have been obvious edge protection was essential.
” The injured worker is still suffering from his injuries now and has only been able to return to work on limited duties.
” Falls from height are the most common cause of serious injury and fatalities in the workplace, it’s imperative that risk assessments are carried out and suitable control measures are put in place to eliminate or reduce the risks”
Commenting on the prosecution, a Veolia spokesperson added: “Veolia deeply regrets this incident and the injury suffered by our colleague. We co-operated fully with the Health & Safety Executive and we have implemented the necessary improvements so as to ensure incidents of this nature are not repeated.
“As a company we treat health and safety as our highest operational priority and we remain completely focused on accident prevention.”
Based in Cannock, the Veolia’s Four Ashes energy from waste facility opened last year and treats around 300,000 tonnes of residual waste from Staffordshire council and its partners Sandwell, Walsall and Warwickshire (see letsrecycle.com story).
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