An Essex-based waste and recycling company has been fined £400,000 after an employee was seriously injured when she was struck by a mobile shredder at its Basildon site.
Clearaway Recycling Limited, based at Archers Fields, was prosecuted following the incident in October 2023.
The 22-year-old site operative was accessing the tipping yard when she was crushed a moving vehicle.
She became trapped between a gate post and the shredder, suffering life threatening injuries. She has been left with life changing injuries as a result of the incident.
HSE finds vehicle management failures
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive, (HSE) found that Clearaway Recycling Limited had failed to manage the movement of pedestrians and vehicles at the site.
This allowed it to become custom and practice for pedestrians to walk in areas close to moving vehicles.
Workers were able to walk close to the mobile shredder as well as lorries and forklift trucks operating at the site.
Waste sector risks highlighted
The waste and recycling industry recorded six worker fatalities during 2025 and 2026.
When compared over a five year period, the fatality rate in the sector means workers are ten times as likely to be killed compared with the all industry average.
Company fined £400,000
Clearaway Recycling Limited, of Archers Fields, Basildon, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.
The company was fined £400,000 and ordered to pay £10,259 in costs at Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court on 13 August.
HSE inspector Joanne Williams said: “The waste and recycling sector continues to be one of the leading industries for workplace injuries and fatalities.
“One of the reasons is the risks from vehicle and pedestrian collisions are well known, yet serious incidents continue to occur.
“In this case, a young woman was left with significant and life-changing injuries.
“Where pedestrians require access to working areas, safeguards must be in place to protect them, including providing adequate segregation or separation distances between pedestrians and vehicles in the area.”
