Council fined £100k after vulnerable employee hit by reversing dust cart

A London borough has been fined £100,000 after a vulnerable employee was crushed by a reversing dust cart, suffering significant injury.

Waste company Veolia ES (UK) was meanwhile fined £250,000 for its role in the incident, which took place on 9 May 2016.

Southwark Crown Court heard how the employee of the London Borough of Croydon, who was working within the motor vehicle repair undertaking of Veolia as a workshop cleaner, was struck by a reversing 17 and a half tonne dust cart.

The worker suffered multiple fractures to his right fibula, femur, knee, ankle, wrist and hand. He also suffered a degloving injury to his right hand requiring a skin graft.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found the workshop cleaner was employed as a ‘supported employee’ due to his learning difficulties with a recognised need for heightened supervision.

Due to his work, he was often required to work in parts of the site, such as the workshop, where large vehicles with low rear visibility for drivers were manoeuvring.

He was known to have a history of standing in the path of moving vehicles, an issue known to both the council and Veolia which they failed to address adequately, the HSE said.

It was later found that Croydon had relied upon a historical ‘agreement’ from 2003 whereby their previous waste contractor had agreed to supervise the workshop cleaner.

The court heard that direct management or supervision of the individual had diminished over time and the worker was left with no active management.

It was found that the council failed due to their presumption that Veolia were managing the injured party and that they should have communicated with Veolia to keep their employee safe.

Veolia ES (UK) Limited did not recognise this ‘agreement’ nor did they require the services of the workshop cleaner but, nevertheless, the worker continued to operate within their workshop and had done since their contract began.

It was found in court that Veolia failed to take reasonably practicable precautions to ensure the injured party was safe whilst working within their workshop due to a lack of implementation of adequate controls for workplace transport such as use of a banksman.

The court also heard both the council and Veolia had failed to take into account the specific capabilities of the vulnerable worker and to take reasonably practicable steps to ensure the safety of this individual working within a high-risk environment.

Croydon Council pleaded guilty to breaching section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. In addition to the £100,000 fine, it was ordered to pay costs of £10,842.83

Veolia ES (UK) Limited pleaded guilty to breaching section 3(1) of the 1974 Act. It was fined £250,000 and ordered to pay costs of £11,359.83

HSE inspector Megan Carr said: “This serious workplace transport incident could have been avoided if both duty holders had taken the appropriate safety precautions when planning this activity.

“Failing to identify the risks led to this man suffering serious life changing injuries.”