Welsh recycling firm sentenced over worker death

Nolan Recycling Ltd fined £250,000 after employee is killed by a skip lorry

A Bridgend-based recycling firm has been ordered to pay £250,000 in fines and £53,100 in costs after a worker was crushed to death when he was struck by a skip lorry on a weighbridge he was cleaning.

Twenty-one-year-old Geraint Eagle from Nant-Y-Moel, near Bridgend, was cleaning sensors on the weighbridge at the waste site run by Nolan Recycling at The Old Quarry, Stormy Down, Pyle, when the incident happened on 2 December 2010.

Mr Eagle, who had only worked at the site for six months, suffered fatal head injuries when he was hit by the lorry as he lay on the bridge to chip mud off the sensors – completely unseen by the driver.

The incident was investigated by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), and Nolan Recycling were subsequently prosecuted for serious safety breaches. Cardiff Crown Court was told that Mr Eagle had been told to clean mud off the sensors on the weighbridge and, as he had not done the job before, he worked alongside a more experienced worker who also looked out for traffic.

However, after taking a break Mr Eagle returned to work alone. The skip lorry drove on to the weighbridge where he was lying prone and chipping away at the hard mud. He picked up his tools and moved out of the way. The lorry driver briefly got out of his cab and went into the site office, returned and drove on, unaware Mr Eagle had returned to his work on the weighbridge.

The lorry hit the young worker and he died at the scene. Mr Eagle had been in a total blind spot to the driver when he decided to return to his work.

The HSE investigation uncovered a series of failings by Nolan Recycling. The company failed to:

• To identify the risks associated with the site.
• To give full instructions, guidance and training to staff.
• To monitor and supervise staff, particularly Geraint Eagle.
• To devise a transport policy to segregate people from vehicles.
• To provide a system of proper maintenance for equipment like the weighbridge.
• To prepare a health and safety plan.

HSE said there was nothing to stop lorry drivers driving on or off the weighbridge despite the maintenance work taking place. A suitable risk assessment for the work would have identified the potential dangers of lorries mixing with pedestrians on the site.

Nolan Recycling admitted breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974.

HSE inspector Sarah Baldwin Jones said: ‘This was a horrific incident with tragic consequences. It left Mr Eagle’s girlfriend without a partner, and his son, born eight months after the incident, without a father. There were multiple failings at the site, which should have been obvious and could easily have been addressed.

‘Nolan Recycling should have closed the weighbridge while the work was taking place, had a clear written risk assessment for the maintenance work and had policies in place to separate site workers from moving vehicles.

She continued: ‘They should also have provided proper training to Mr Eagle and his colleague who was supervising his work. There can be no excuse for companies in the waste industry not taking reasonable steps to safeguard their workers as there is a wealth of information and guidance from trade bodies as well as the HSE.’

Mr Eagle’s father, Paul Eagle, commented: ‘We all miss Geraint very much. This tragedy has had a huge impact on the family. I hope other businesses will learn lessons from this and put workers’ safety first. No other families should have to go through what we have been through.’