A metal recycling firm has been fined £650,000 after a routine inspection by the Health & Safety Executive which found it failed to implement effective control measures to protect staff.
Health & Safety Executive (HSE) inspector Emma Page visited the metal recycling firm, which operates five metal recycling sites across Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire, last year.
While at the premises in Aylesbury, Page observed the firm had failed to segregate moving vehicles from pedestrians as waste was being manually sorted.
Video shows lack of effective control measures
Page filmed a video of the site that showed three pedestrian workers wearing yellow hi-vis jackets sorting waste in the yard in close proximity to three operating 360 grab excavators.
The video appears to show an HGV skip lorry reversing past the workers as they continue to hand-sort the waste without any measures, such as barriers, to prevent them from coming into contact with the vehicle.
A subsequent HSE investigation identified that ASM Metal Recycling had previously identified the risks of pedestrian-vehicle collision but failed to implement effective control measures.
HSE had previously served enforcement notices on ASM Metal Recycling in 2010, 2014, 2016, and 2018. HSE also wrote Notification of Contravention letters to the company in 2021 and 2023.
The metal recycling firm pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act and was fined £650,000.
ASM Metal Recycling was also ordered to pay £5,885 costs at a hearing at Oxford Magistrates Court on 22 October 2024.
After the hearing, HSE inspector Emma Page said: “The scrap and metal recycling industry has consistently had a poor fatal incident rate for many years.
“The most serious risk associated with manually sorting waste is a collision between a vehicle and a pedestrian. On average, there are around five fatalities each year in the waste industry, with nearly half of these relating to being struck by a moving vehicle.
“Incidents happen because working practices have failed to achieve effective segregation of moving vehicles from pedestrians.”
