Waste company fined more than £100,000 after employee forced to have leg amputated

A waste and recycling company has been fined more than £100,000 after an employee lost his leg while working.

The 41-year-old man had been sorting refuse with two other staff members at the Levenshulme site of Pink Skips (NW) Ltd in Manchester, on 5 October 2022 when the incident happened.

A 360-excavator was being used to move waste in the same area that the group was working.

As one of the men was standing behind the vehicle, it suddenly reversed, striking him, and running over his leg.

The injury was so severe the leg had to be amputated above the knee. The Romanian father and grandfather has been left unable to work and still suffers from considerable pain.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that Pink Skips (NW) Ltd had failed to adequately segregate pedestrians and vehicles.

The investigation also found that hand picking regularly occurred around the excavator operating.

There was a written safe system of work which stated that operatives were not to work within the swing reach area of the excavator, that barriers should be placed between operatives and machines at all times, and that banksmen should be used.

However, these precautions were not being used in practice. There was also no monitoring of the alleged systems in place, had there been, this would have highlighted that the control measures were not being used.

The company pleaded guilty to breaching regulation 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. It was fined £106,700 and ordered to pay £5,744 costs at a hearing at Manchester Magistrates’ Court on 7 August 2024.

After the hearing HSE inspector Lisa Bailey said: “The company failed to segregate pedestrians and vehicles or put in place a safe system of work for its hand sorting and picking activities, thereby exposing employees, to the risk of being struck by workplace vehicles.

“The injuries sustained here have been truly life-changing.”