County Durham waste company fined after worker crushed by excavator
He suffered fractures to both feet. An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive found that the company had failed to ensure a safe system of work was in place.
The employee was working on a waste pile near moving vehicles with no physical separation between them and there was no risk assessment or system of work to protect pedestrians from vehicle movements. HSE guidance clearly states that pedestrians and vehicles should be segregated when waste is being manually sorted, and by law, employers must ensure traffic routes can be used without risking the safety of workers nearby. .
READ MORE: Man arrested over 'strangulation and suffocation' at Haggerston Castle Holiday Park
READ MORE: Three children riding on back of motorcycle seriously injured in Kenton crash as biker flees scene
At Teesside Magistrates' Court on Tuesday, August 5, Farm XS (Northern) Limited, of Shaw Bank, Barnard Castle, pleaded guilty to breaching section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at work Act 1974. It was fined £4,000 and ordered to pay £4,285 in costs.
After the hearing, HSE inspector Richard McMullen said: "The outcome could have been much worse. But the failures that day meant a worker received serious injuries.
"This incident was easily avoidable by implementing control measures and safe practices to ensure that workers were not put at risk from moving vehicles, including clear segregation and safe refuges. This should be a reminder to the waste industry of the need to consider workplace transport risks and to introduce appropriate control measures to separate vehicles and pedestrians."
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