Waste firm crush accident results in six-figure fine

Chris Tindall
November 20, 2023

A waste haulage and recycling company has been fined £260,000 after an employee sustained severe crush injuries during maintenance work.

Cappagh Public Works, which trades out of 10 operating centres across London, the South East and the West of England, pleaded guilty to breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act at Westminster Magistrates Court last month following the incident in September 2020.

The court heard how 48-year-old worker Grzegorz Poreba became trapped between a conveyor and a metal bridge, which formed part of a waste sorting machine, at the firm’s Wimbledon depot while making repairs.

He suffered multiple injuries and required 23 screws and two plates inside his body and he has been unable to return to work.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) said the machine had not been isolated from all sources of energy before the work began and when it was inadvertently switched on, Poreba was thrown onto the conveyor, trapping him against a metal bridge.

HSE inspector Pippa Knott said: “The fine imposed should underline to everyone in the waste industry that the courts, and HSE, take a failure to ensure that maintenance work is completed safely extremely seriously.”

Cappagh Public Works holds two operator licences authorising 47 HGVs and four trailers in the SEMTA traffic area and 29 HGVs in the West of England.

About the Author

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Chris Tindall

Chris Tindall started writing for the haulage and logistics industry in 2002 and has covered a broad range of significant issues, including GPS jamming by criminals, platooning and Brexit.

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