The inspection found that the metal recycler had failed to implement effective control measures at its Aylesbury site to protect workers and other dangerous working practices, including a failure to segregate moving vehicles from pedestrian workers as waste was being manually sorted.
The inspection took place on 3 August and 8 August 2023 at the recycler’s site on Griffin Lane where HSE inspector Emma Page recorded video footage of the dangerous working practices.
A subsequent HSE investigation found that ASM Metal Recycling had previously identified the risks of pedestrian-vehicle collision but had failed to implement effective control measures.
HSE has previously served enforcement notices on ASM Metal Recycling in 2010, 2014, 2016, 2018. HSE also wrote Notification of Contravention letters to the company in 2021 and 2023. The company has four other sites, including in Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire.
Alongside the fine, the recycler was ordered to pay an additional £5,865 in costs at a hearing at Oxford Magistrates Court on 22 October 2024.
After the hearing, inspector Page said: “The scrap and metal recycling industry has consistently had a poor fatal incident rate for many years.
“The most serious risk associated with manually sorting waste is a collision between a vehicle and a pedestrian. On average, there are around five fatalities each year in the waste industry, with nearly half of these relating to being struck by a moving vehicle.
“Incidents happen because working practices have failed to achieve effective segregation of moving vehicles from pedestrians. During my inspection it was clear that this was the case at ASM Metal Recycling’s Griffin Lane premises in Aylesbury, and the fact we had previously identified these areas of concern but they were not acted upon resulted in HSE’s prosecution of the company.”
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