A Welsh waste business has been fined £180,000 after a worker had to have both legs amputated when he was run over by a shovel loader at a landfill site in Powys.
Sundorne Products (Llanidloes) Ltd pleaded guilty to breaching sections 2 and 3 of the Health and Safety At Work Act following the incident at its Byn Posteg Landfill site on 6 November 2015.
The incident occurred at a landfill site in Llanidloes in November 2015
Mold Crown Court heard how the worker, named in local reports as 65-year-old Bryn Hughes, was walking across the site yard when he was hit by a large shovel loader.
Mr Hughes suffered severe injuries as a result of the collision and needed both legs amputated at the mid-thigh. He was hospitalised for six months.
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found the company did not have controls in place to protect workers from the high volume of vehicles and traffic on site.
While it had previously identified the risk and how they could prevent workers being hit by vehicles, the measures had not been put in place at the time of the incident. The business was fined £180,000 and ordered to pay costs of £7,657.
Sundorne
Sundorne Products is a subsidiary of the Potter Group, a waste management business based in Welshpool, Powys.
The firm operates two landfill sites – Bryn Posteg in Llanidloes and Withyhedge in Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire.
When contacted by letsrecycle.com, Potter Group was not available for comment.
‘Action’
HSE inspector, Mhairi Duffy, said: “It is extremely important to identify how to protect your workers but you must back this up with action. This worker’s and his families lives have been changed forever because Sundorne Products Ltd failed to take action and protect their workers from being run over by vehicles on the site.
“All businesses that have high volumes of vehicles on their site can learn from this case.”
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Source: letsrecycle.com Waste Managment
