A County Durham waste management company has been fined after a man was run over by an excavator while at work.
Farm XS (Northern) Limited, based in Barnard Castle, was sentenced after an incident on 29 January 2024 that left a 24-year-old man with serious injuries, including fractures to both feet.
The man was only in his second week of employment at the Staindrop Road site when he was struck from behind by an excavator and run over.
He was working on a waste pile near moving vehicles with no physical separation between them.
Health and Safety Executive (HSE) guidance states that pedestrians and vehicles should be segregated when waste is being manually sorted. By law, employers must ensure traffic routes can be used without risking the safety of workers nearby.
An investigation by the HSE found that the company had failed to ensure a safe system of work was in place. There was no risk assessment or system of work to protect pedestrians from vehicle movements.
Farm XS (Northern) Limited pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 at Teesside Magistrates’ Court and was fined £4,000 and ordered to pay £4,285 in costs.
After the hearing, HSE inspector Richard McMullen said: “The outcome could have been much worse. But the failures that day meant a worker received serious injuries.
“This incident was easily avoidable by implementing control measures and safe practices to ensure that workers were not put at risk from moving vehicles, including clear segregation and safe refuges.
“This should be a reminder to the waste industry of the need to consider workplace transport risks and to introduce appropriate control measures to separate vehicles and pedestrians.”