Cleanzine: your weekly cleaning and hygiene industry newsletter 28th May 2026 Issue no. 1212
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Waste & recycling company fined after worker injured cleaning machinery
A North-East waste & recycling company has been fined £270,000 after an employee was injured while cleaning a waste picking line, which was accidentally switched on during the cleaning process.
An investigation by the Health & Safety Executive found that the company failed to ensure an isolation procedure was correctly implemented while employees were cleaning machinery at its site at Aycliffe Quarry, Aycliffe Village, County Durham.
The incident occurred in March 2023, when a senior supervisor restarted the machinery after mistaking the worker in question for a colleague in similar clothing nearby.
The employee suffered a fractured shoulder, torn ligaments and a broken finger.
This was not the first serious incident at the site. In December 2015, one worker was killed and another suffered life-changing injuries on a separate waste sorting line due to similar failures to follow proper isolation and lock-off procedures.
Stonegrave Aggregates, part of the Ashcourt Group, of Halifax Way, Pocklington, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health & Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. The company was fined £270,000 and ordered to pay full costs of £15,637.
"Effective monitoring, auditing and review of isolation systems is essential to demonstrate that they are working and controlling risk,” warns HSE inspector Darian Dundas. “Incidents like this can and should be prevented by following robust lock-off procedures."
HSE guidance highlights the importance of following safe isolation and lock-off procedures before any maintenance or cleaning work is carried out. Employers must ensure all machinery is properly isolated from power sources, and that systems are regularly monitored and reviewed to prevent inadvertent start-up. Further guidance is available at:
https://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/books/hsg253.htm
4th December 2025