Skip hire company fined after worker injured

A South Yorkshire skip hire and waste processing company has been handed a £30,000 fine after a worker was injured trying to clear a blockage in a trommel drum.

Sheffield Magistrates Court heard how, in 2015, the drum of the trommel machine used for sorting material by J Edwards Waste Management became jammed and the worker did not turn off the machine before going into the drum to clear the blockage.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that after the worker entered the drum of the machine and cleared the blockage, the machine started to operate and rotate while the employee was still inside.

The employee was tumbled around and repeatedly struck by the waste material inside the drum before the machine was stopped, the investigation found.

Rotherham-based J Edwards Waste Management was also ordered to pay £3621 costs.

After the hearing, HSE inspector Laura Hunter said: “This case highlight’s the importance of isolating machinery before intervening.

“This incident could so easily have been avoided by simply having a safe system of work for clearing blockages after completing a risk assessment.”