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A London waste and recycling company has been fined £400,000 after a council worker was crushed when a shovel loader reversed into him.
Paul McDaid, an Enfield Council employee, was working at the London Energy Ltd transfer station in Edmonton on May 13, 2022, when the incident happened.
The 58-year-old had been closing the tailgate on his tractor after tipping waste into a nearby bay, when a shovel loader reversed without realising he was there and crushed him between both vehicles. He sustained serious injuries.
The company was undergoing major construction work and the area where the incident occurred was a temporary unit.
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE)has since found the company was not suitably risk assessed and appropriate control measures were not implemented.
The investigation also found the company had failed to implement suitable controls to segregate pedestrians and vehicles for which detailed guidance is available.
Where vehicles and pedestrians share a traffic route there must be enough separation between them. This can normally be achieved through the use of physical barriers and safe systems of work.
London Energy Ltd of Ecopark, Advent Way, Edmonton, London, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. The company was fined £400,000 and ordered to pay £5,573 in costs at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on June 27.
HSE inspector Pippa Knott said: “Due to the failings of this company a man has been left with very serious injuries.
“They failed to segregate pedestrians and vehicles, putting both employees and council workers at risk.
“Too many workers are injured every year as a result of being struck by moving vehicles which could be avoided by implementing suitable control measures.”
The HSE prosecution was brought by HSE enforcement lawyer Rebecca Schwartz and paralegal officer Helen Hugo.
