A waste management company in Northampton must pay £265,000 after one of its workers was killed when he was hit by a vehicle at a waste transfer station in Watford.
Father-of-two Patrick Murphy, from Watford was struck and then run over by a JCB loading shovel as he cleared litter at FCC Waste Services (UK) Ltd’s Waterdale Waste Transfer Station in August 2012. He died at the scene.
FCC Waste Services (UK) Ltd was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) at St Albans Crown Court on 13th March after an investigation determined that the firm had failed to organise and control the workplace to make certain that pedestrians and vehicles could operate safely.
The court heard that 58-year-old Mr Murphy had worked at the site, which handled household waste and materials for recycling, since 2004 as a groundsman. There would always be a number of refuse collection vehicles being driven to the site and across the manoeuvring yard to a warehouse which was known as the tipping hall. The site also contained two loading shovels, operated by FCC staff who worked on the site. The loading shovels transported the tipped waste and it was one of these that struck and killed Mr Murphy.
FCC Waste Services (UK) Ltd was fined a total of £200,000 for the incident as well as £65,000 in costs after it pleaded guilty to breaching the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 and the Management of Health & Safety at Work Regulations 1999.
Speaking after the hearing, HSE Inspector Roxanne Barker, said: “Mr Murphy lost his life in what was an entirely preventable tragedy caused by FCC Waste Services (UK) Ltd’s failure to fully recognise and control the hazards arising from activities in and around the tipping hall at its waste transfer station.
“There are significant risks associated with operating large construction type vehicles on waste sites, particularly when, as in this case, the vehicles have restricted visibility. These risks are well known and easily controlled using reasonably practicable precautions.
“Every year many people are killed or seriously injured in incidents involving workplace transport, and there is no excuse for companies that neglect this risk. Pedestrians, whether they are employees or not, should be kept separate from these types of vehicles through physical barriers or safe systems of work that are clear and well supervised.”