Canterbury Crown Court heard how, on 18th October 2013, John Head suffered fatal injuries when he was run over by a reversing refuse collection vehicle (RCV).
He was an employee of Veolia ES (UK) Limited and was struck by the vehicle while walking across the yard at the Ross Depot waste transfer station in Folkestone. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
An investigation by the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) into the incident found that multiple vehicles were manoeuvring around the yard with no specific controls. The French-owned environmental services company failed to adequately assess the risks involved in the yard and did not implement industry-recognised control measures to protect employees.
Veolia ES (UK) Limited of Pentonville Road, London was found guilty after a trial of breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. It was fined £1m and ordered to pay costs of £130,000.
HSE inspector Kevin Golding said: “This should be a reminder to all industries, but in particular, the waste industry, to appropriately assess the risks and implement widely recognised control measures to adequately control manoeuvring vehicles, in particular reversing vehicles and restrict pedestrian movements around vehicles."
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