£3 million in fines issued following ‘avoidable’ deaths of two workers – one of which happened in Northamptonshire

A waste management firm has been fined a total of £3 million following the deaths of two workers in separate incidents – one of which happened in Northamptonshire.

Michael Atkin and Mark Wheatley died following incidents in 2019 and 2020 respectively, and the families of both men say they are “devastated” after losing their loved ones.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigated both incidents and prosecuted Valencia Waste Management Limited, formerly known as Viridor Waste Management Limited.

Michael, from Wetherby, lost his life while collecting wastepaper bales at Valencia Waste Management Limited’s Grendon Road site in Earls Barton on October 10, 2019.

The 63-year-old, a HGV driver employed by RT Keedwell, had been working at the site with a Valencia Waste Management employee – who was using a forklift truck to load Michael’s lorry with rows of bales.

With three rows of bales already loaded on Michael’s lorry, the Valencia employee then attempted to load a fourth row.

However, while doing so, some bales in the third row were dislodged and fell off the lorry, fatally crushing Michael.

It seems Michael had been securing the other bales onto the lorry before he was crushed, with each bale weighing at least 820 kilograms.

Janet Atkin, Michael’s partner, said: “Since the loss of Michael, it has left an enormous hole in my life. Four years later, I’m still traumatised and I don’t sleep well.”

A HSE investigation found it was not custom and practice at Valencia Waste Management Limited’s Earls Barton site for bales to be loaded onto lorries by forklift truck operators while the lorry driver was strapping bales previously loaded onto the lorry flatbed.

Systems were in place for drivers to remain within their cabs, or in some other safe location away from the loading activity, but this was not adhered to at the time of the incident.

Mark Wheatley died following an incident on January 17, 2020 at the Dartmoor National Park Conservation Works depot in Devon.

The 31-year-old, who was from Sutton Coldfield but lived in Devon, was an agency worker on his second week.

Mark had been using a lorry to lift two skips at the same time, deploying a method called ‘hot swapping’.

However, the skips were not compatible as they were of different dimensions and fell at an angle onto the back of Mark’s lorry. He then got onto the lorry bed to rectify the situation but the skips overbalanced and fatally struck him.

A HSE investigation into this incident found Valencia Waste Management Limited had failed to carry out a suitable and sufficient risk assessment into skip operations – meaning that safe systems of work and appropriate training were not implemented. The skips were also not maintained in an efficient state as the sizes were not displayed on the skips themselves.

Following the incident on October 10, 2019, Valencia Waste Management Limited, of London Road, Stretton-on-Dunsmore, Warwickshire, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. The company was fined £1 million at Loughborough Magistrates’ Court on September 6, 2023.

Following the incident on January 17, 2020, Valencia Waste Management Limited also pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. The company was fined £2 million at Loughborough Magistrates’ Court on September 6, 2023.

The company was also ordered to pay combined costs of £21,054.

Alan Hughes, senior enforcement lawyer at HSE, said: “These were two men at different stages of their lives, but the grief and pain across both families is devastating.

“Both deaths were avoidable. More needs to be done to make the use of vehicles on waste and recycling sites safer.”