Firm fined more than £100k after worker lost a leg

A waste and recycling company has been fined more than £100,000 after an employee lost his leg after being struck by an excavator.

The 41-year-old man was sorting rubbish with two other colleagues at the Pink Skips (NW) Ltd site in Levenshulme, Manchester, on 5 October 2022 when he was struck by the machine.

CCTV footage showed a 360-excavator was being used close to where the trio were working and the vehicle suddenly reversed and ran over the worker's leg which had to be amputated above the knee, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) said.

The firm admitted breaching health and safety at work regulations at Manchester Magistrates' Court.

The Romanian grandfather who was injured has been left unable to work and still suffers from considerable pain, the HSE said.

An HSE investigation found that Pink Skips (NW) Ltd of Printworks Lane, Manchester, had failed to adequately segregate pedestrians and vehicles for which detailed guidance is available.

The investigation also found that hand picking regularly occurred around the excavator operating.

There was a written safe system of work which stated operatives were not to work within the swing reach area of the excavator, that barriers should be placed between operatives and machines at all times, and banksmen should be used.

However, these precautions were not being used in practice, the HSE said, adding that there was also no monitoring of the systems in place or it would have highlighted that the control measures were not being used.

The BBC has contacted Pink Skips (NW) Ltd for a comment.

The company pleaded guilty to breaching regulation 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974.

It was fined £106,700 and ordered to pay £5,744 costs as well as a victim surcharge fund of £2,000.

After the hearing HSE inspector Lisa Bailey said: “The company failed to segregate pedestrians and vehicles or put in place a safe system of work for its hand sorting and picking activities, thereby exposing employees, to the risk of being struck by workplace vehicles.

"The injuries sustained here have been truly life-changing."

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