Cleanzine: your weekly cleaning and hygiene industry newsletter 15th October 2026 Issue no. 1230
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Waste & recycling company fined £400,000 after woman crushed
An Essex-based waste & recycling company has been fined £400,000 after an employee was seriously injured after being struck by a mobile shredder at its site in Basildon.
Clearaway Recycling, based at Archers Fields, was sentenced after a 22-year-old site operative was crushed by the moving vehicle while accessing the tipping yard in 2024. She suffered life-threatening injuries when she was trapped between a gate post and the shredder itself. She has been left with life-changing injuries as a result of the incident.
An investigation by the Health & Safety Executive found that the company had not managed 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, including the shredder, as well as close to lorries and forklift trucks.
The company pleaded guilty at a Court hearing recently, to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health & Safety at Work Act 1974. It was fined £400,000 and ordered to pay costs of £10,259.
"The waste & recycling sector continues to be one of the leading industries for workplace injuries and fatalities,” says HSE inspector Joanne Williams. "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."
The waste & recycling industry saw six workers killed during 2025/26 - which when compared over a five-year period, means fatalities are ten times as likely compared to the all-industry average.
Guidance is available at:
and:
https://www.hse.gov.uk/roadsafety/worker/index.htm
15th October 2026