Ealing company prosecuted for tipper fall failings

Waste-management firm fined £20,000 after employee suffers serious injuries on first day in new job

A LONDON waste-management company has been prosecuted after a worker on his first day in a new job sustained life-threatening injuries when he fell from the top of a tipper lorry.

The 40-year-old from Northfleet in Kent, who does not want to be named, broke two ribs, punctured a lung and developed a blood clot in his head as a result of the fall at Hall Lane, in Acton, on 2 March 2010. He was unconscious in hospital for two weeks.

Westminster Magistrates’ Court heard that the worker was in his first day of employment with Quick Skips & Recycling Ltd and was collecting waste from Bridgemarts Ltd, trading as Gowing & Pursey, for transfer to another site.

After loading the lorry he stopped the vehicle and climbed on top of the tipper unit to check an auto-sheeting device that had become jammed. He manually freed the jam, but the sheet system sprung back, struck him and sent him crashing more than 3m to the ground below.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigated and found both companies could and should have done more to prevent the fall.

Bridgemarts, who had overall responsibility for the Acton site, failed to adequately control the work at height risks and ensure the safety of a sub-contractor, while Quick Skips allowed systematic failings in health and safety management, both in relation to the Acton incident and also the operation of their own site in Ealing.

HSE inspectors identified several issues during a subsequent visit to the Ealing site, including diggers and HGVs operating within close proximity to workers.

Quick Skips & Recycling Ltd pleaded guilty to single breaches of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, the Work at Height Regulations 2005 and the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992. The company was fined a total of £20,000 and ordered to pay £2,843 in costs.

Bridgemarts were earlier fined £7,000 with £1,410 in costs at Westminster Magistrates after pleading guilty to breaching Regulation 5 of the Work at Height Regulations 2005 on 11 July.

After the latest hearing, HSE Inspector Neil Fry said: ‘The Quick Skips employee could have died as a result of the fall – which would have unbelievably tragic on his first day of work at the firm – all because of an incident that was entirely preventable and that would never have happened had both companies properly managed the safety risks.

‘Incidents of this kind are all too common in the waste industry and effective controls must be put in place to stop employees clambering on top of HGVs without the right safety equipment and agreed safe working protocols.’