Waste management and recycling firm Veolia has been fined £1 million following the death of a worker at a waste transfer station in Folkestone, Kent in 2013.
John Head, 60, suffered fatal injuries at the Ross Depot Waste Transfer Station on 18 October 2013 when he was run over by a reversing refuse collection vehicle whilst walking across the yard. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
The incident occurred on 18 October 2013 at the Ross Depot Waste Transfer Station
The penalty follows a two-week trial at Canterbury Crown Court after legal action over the incident was brought by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).
A jury found the company, Veolia ES (UK) Limited, guilty of breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.
According to the HSE, the company failed to assess the risks involved in the yard and “did not implement industry recognised control measures” to protect employees.
However, the company says that it has since made ‘significant changes’ to its operations and that it is continually striving to improve the safety of its employees.
Following the guilty verdict, the company has been fined £1 million and ordered to pay costs of £130,000.
‘Reminder’
Speaking after the conclusion of the case, HSE inspector Kevin Golding said: “This should be a reminder to all industries, but in particular, the waste industry, to appropriately assess the risks and implement widely recognised control measures to adequately control manoeuvring vehicles, in particular reversing vehicles and restrict pedestrian movements around vehicles.”
Reacting to the judgement, a Veolia spokesperson said: “Veolia fully respects the decision of the jury and today’s sentencing. We deeply regret the events that resulted in the death of our long standing employee, John Head, and apologise to his family and friends.
“This incident occurred in October 2013 and the site and business has since made significant changes and improvements to the way we operate, as we continually strive to improve the safety of our operations and most importantly our employees.
“We take health and safety very seriously in respect of our staff, our customers and the communities in which we operate and we are committed to achieving the highest standards across all our sites.”
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Source: letsrecycle.com Waste Managment
