A firm running a waste and recycling site in Johnstown, Carmarthen, has been fined £55,000 after a number of serious health and safety issues were identified by Health and Safety Executive (HSE) inspectors.

The site run by Mekatek Ltd at Amex Park, Johnstown was subject to a routine inspection on 20 May 2013, when a number of serious safety issues were discovered, including access to unguarded dangerous machinery, exposure to risk of electrocution and areas contaminated by asbestos-containing materials. The inspectors had to issue eight notices to immediately halt a range of work activities.

‘A catalogue of dangers’

Sheffield-based Mekatek Ltd was prosecuted by the HSE at a hearing before Swansea Crown Court (27 February). The court was told the site had ‘a catalogue of dangerous points’, including a ‘man basket’ on a forklift truck to allow workers to carry out work at height. This basket was not secured to the forks of the truck and there was no cage behind the basket to stop workers becoming trapped with the forklift truck mast.

There were no suitable guards to prevent workers getting caught in the moving machine parts of a granulator, two compactors, a shredder and a paint-mixing drum, and electrical cables were found trailing through liquid, leading to a risk of electrocution.

In addition, exposed and damaged pipe lagging, which included asbestos-containing materials, was in a poor state and exposed workers at the site to the risk of contamination. This was allowed to continue by Mekatek despite an earlier report by a specialist that had identified the presence of asbestos in the area and recommended its urgent removal.

Mekatek Ltd of Terminus Road, Sheffield, pleaded guilty to a breach of health and safety regulations, a single breach of control of asbestos regulations and a breach of work equipment regulations and was fined a total of £35,000 and ordered to pay £20,000 in costs.

‘Very fortunate no one was killed’

HSE Inspector Clare Owen, speaking after the hearing, said: “The conditions at this site were extremely poor and the dangers were quite clear. It’s very fortunate no one was killed or seriously injured there.

“Mekatek failed to manage basic health and safety at the site, and these multiple failings confirm its approach was totally inadequate. The issues identified, such as cables trailing through liquid and management of asbestos should have been immediately obvious.

“The management also relied on health and safety managers it employed for advice but failed to check if they were competent and had appropriate qualifications, particularly for the management of asbestos.

“Twenty tradespeople, on average, die from asbestos-related diseases in Britain every week and it’s the biggest single cause of work related deaths in the country.

“The lives of the 34 workers at the site and any visitors depended on the company meeting its legal health and safety obligations fully.”

Waste sector ‘one of the most dangerous’

Injuries and deaths in the waste sector are not uncommon, and HSE has previously branded the industry as ‘one of the most dangerous’ sectors to work in after it found 10 workers and three members of the public suffered fatal injuries in the waste and recycling sector in 2012/13, compared with an average of six deaths in the past five years.

To reduce the number of people killed and seriously injured in the waste and recycling industry, HSE has published the ‘Waste Industry Safety and Health (WISH) blueprint 2012-15’, which outlines 24 ‘immediate action points’ that companies dealing with waste and recycling need to take to provide clearer training and safer workplaces.