SITA prosecuted following landfill fatality
SITA UK Ltd have been prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) following the death of a lorry driver at the company’s Cranford landfill site on 4 January 2007. The company pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and was fined £210,000 and ordered to pay full costs of £38,000.
Northampton Crown Court heard that Gary Carter, of Kidwelly, Carmarthenshire, arrived at the site to empty his refuse lorry and, like all the lorries emptying at the site that day, had to be assisted on to and off the tipping area due to wet weather and soft ground conditions.
After his lorry was towed to the tipping area by a bulldozer, Mr Carter discharged part of his load. To shed the rest he had to move forward but his lorry had become bogged down in the soft ground.
The driver of the compactor, which was spreading the rubbish behind his lorry, radioed to Mr Carter to say he would drive up behind the lorry and push it forward. At the same time the bulldozer reversed up to the front of the lorry to give it a tow.
Both machines were trying to help Mr Carter move, but without communicating with each other. When the compactor started to push the lorry forward, Mr Carter was attaching a tow rope from the bulldozer to the front of his lorry. He was crushed between the lorry and back of the bulldozer and died at the scene.
The court heard from the prosecution that new working arrangements had been introduced a few days before the accident without having been properly risk assessed. Furthermore, the court was told that SITA had not defined the supervisory roles for their staff on the site and that site rules on pushing lorries were ambiguous.
HSE Inspector Roy Bush said: ‘Every company has a legal responsibility to take care of people working on their site, whether they are employed by them or not.
‘All companies are required to assess risks, eliminate them where possible and provide proper control measures to deal with the risks that remain. Having clear site rules that deal with the significant risks on site and making sure staff understand them and stick to them is absolutely vital if people on sites like this are to be protected from serious injury and even death.’
Northampton Crown Court heard that Gary Carter, of Kidwelly, Carmarthenshire, arrived at the site to empty his refuse lorry and, like all the lorries emptying at the site that day, had to be assisted on to and off the tipping area due to wet weather and soft ground conditions.
After his lorry was towed to the tipping area by a bulldozer, Mr Carter discharged part of his load. To shed the rest he had to move forward but his lorry had become bogged down in the soft ground.
The driver of the compactor, which was spreading the rubbish behind his lorry, radioed to Mr Carter to say he would drive up behind the lorry and push it forward. At the same time the bulldozer reversed up to the front of the lorry to give it a tow.
Both machines were trying to help Mr Carter move, but without communicating with each other. When the compactor started to push the lorry forward, Mr Carter was attaching a tow rope from the bulldozer to the front of his lorry. He was crushed between the lorry and back of the bulldozer and died at the scene.
The court heard from the prosecution that new working arrangements had been introduced a few days before the accident without having been properly risk assessed. Furthermore, the court was told that SITA had not defined the supervisory roles for their staff on the site and that site rules on pushing lorries were ambiguous.
HSE Inspector Roy Bush said: ‘Every company has a legal responsibility to take care of people working on their site, whether they are employed by them or not.
‘All companies are required to assess risks, eliminate them where possible and provide proper control measures to deal with the risks that remain. Having clear site rules that deal with the significant risks on site and making sure staff understand them and stick to them is absolutely vital if people on sites like this are to be protected from serious injury and even death.’
