Skip firm fined after Burnley worker, 19, pinned against wall and crushed by telehandler
A waste and recycling company has been fined after an employee suffered life-changing injuries when he was crushed by a reversing telehandler.
Jordan Campion, 21, had been hand-sorting waste alongside three colleagues at Sheridan Skips Burnley Limited's yard on 12 March 2024 when the vehicle reversed into him, pinning him against a brick wall.
He sustained multiple fractures, internal injuries, nerve damage to his right arm, partial hearing loss and permanent sight loss in his right eye.
Mr Campion, from Burnley, who spent nearly two weeks in hospital, said the incident had caused "great distress" to his family, who "never thought that I wouldn't be safe in work".
A Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation found workers regularly operated on foot in the same yard on Clifton Street as moving vehicles, with no physical separation or safe refuges put in place.
Inspectors said the company had failed to carry out a suitable risk assessment and had not addressed poor visibility on the telehandler, which was missing reversing mirrors.
Sheridan Skips Burnley Limited, of Cathedral Gates, Manchester, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, the HSE said.
The company was fined £24,000 and ordered to pay £4,777 in costs at Blackburn Magistrates' Court on Wednesday, March 11.
“Could easily have been avoided”
After the hearing, HSE inspector Anthony Banks said: "This young man's injuries could so easily have been avoided with the implementation of safe working practices, including pedestrian and vehicle segregation and safe refuges for workers whilst vehicles were operating.
“These measures would have ensured that workers present in the yard were not put at risk of being struck by vehicles moving in and around where they were working.
"This should serve as a reminder to businesses operating in the waste industry to ensure that workplace transport is appropriately considered, with control measures introduced to ensure the appropriate separation of vehicles and pedestrians."