A Bristol-based waste and recycling business has been fined £64,666 after one of its employees was drawn into machinery and suffered life-changing injuries.
While working at Bateman Skips Ltd waste and recycling facility in January 2024, the employee slipped and made contact with the unguarded tail-end of a conveyor belt that was carrying waste materials.
They were attempting to clear a blockage that had occurred on the plant when their arm was dragged into the machine and crushed. They suffered bone fractures, severe lacerations to the arm, nerve damage and a fractured rib.
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that Bateman Skips Ltd failed to prevent access to dangerous parts of machinery and didn’t implement a safe system of work for clearing blockages within its waste recovery facility.
In a victim’s personal statement, the injured employee said the accident was the ‘most traumatic thing I have ever experienced both physically and mentally’, and it will affect them for the rest of their life.
Bateman Skips Ltd pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Etc. Act 1974 and breaching Regulation 11(1) of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998.
The company was fined £64,666 and ordered to pay £4,657 in costs at Bristol Magistrates’ Court on 5 June 2026.
HSE Inspector Laura Artosi commented: “This wholly preventable incident caused this person and their family physical and emotional pain, which has been affecting their lives ever since.”
