• The company had received previous enforcement notices on several occasions over an 11-year period 

• Employees had no access to running water or soap after sorting waste materials that could be contaminated with asbestos by hand 

• HSE guidance states employers must provide employees who are liable to interact with asbestos containing materials with suitable training

A waste and recycling company has been fined £36,000 for repeatedly failing to provide appropriate welfare facilities and asbestos awareness training for employees at a site in North Wales.  

Llandudno Magistrates’ Court heard how workers at World Care (Wales) Limited, were tasked with sorting waste and recyclable materials by hand without having facilities to wash dry themselves afterwards.  

At the World Care site, it was identified through a routine inspection that the company had failed to make warm running water and soap available to employees as well as a means to dry themselves. There had been at least one occasion where asbestos had been brought onto the site, yet they continued to not provide asbestos awareness training to employees.  

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that World Care (Wales) had received previous enforcement on several occasions over an 11–year period. On each occasion, inspectors found that the company failed to maintain the minimum health and safety standards required. These enforcement notices were in relation to welfare provisions and training. 

HSE Inspector James Benton said: “The health risks from exposure to material containing asbestos is well known yet this company wasn’t providing the appropriate facilities for workers to protect themselves.  

“Basic welfare provision is essential to ensure that employees can clean themselves at work, to help prevent exposure to harmful microorganisms. After being told of the risks, this company  repeatedly failed to provide adequate welfare facilities such as soap and running water, and failed to provide asbestos awareness training to employees.”   

World Care (Wales) Limited of Tre Marl Industrial Estate, North Wales, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. The company was fined £36,000 and £8,867 in costs at Llandudno Magistrates’ Court on 6 July 2026. The company opted to make the payments over a 16-month period. 

This HSE prosecution was brought by HSE enforcement lawyer Alan Hughes and paralegal officer Lynne Thomas. 

More information

1. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is Britain’s national regulator for workplace health and safety. We are dedicated to protecting people and places, and helping everyone lead safer and healthier lives.  
2. More information about the legislation referred to in this case is available. 
3. Further details on the latest HSE news releases is available.  
4. Relevant guidance can be found here  The Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012 and The Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 
5. Workers in skilled trades are at particular risk of discovering and disturbing asbestos during their work. Make sure you know what to look for, and what to do to protect yourself when you come across asbestos with our Asbestos & You quick guide for trades. 
6. HSE does not pass sentences, set guidelines or collect any fines imposed. Relevant sentencing guidelines must be followed unless the court is satisfied that it would be contrary to the interests of justice to do so.  The sentencing guidelines for health and safety offences can be found here.

Dirwywyd cwmni gwastraff ac ailgylchu yng Ngogledd Cymru oherwydd diffyg cyfleusterau lles a methiannau parhaus ar y safle

• Roedd y cwmni wedi derbyn hysbysiadau gorfodi ar sawl achlysur dros gyfnod o 11 mlynedd
• Nid oedd gan weithwyr fynediad at ddŵr rhedegog na sebon ar ôl didoli deunyddiau gwastraff â llaw – deunyddiau a allai fod wedi’u halogi ag asbestos
• Mae canllawiau’r HSE yn nodi bod yn rhaid i gyflogwyr ddarparu hyfforddiant addas i weithwyr sy’n debygol o ddod i gysylltiad â deunyddiau sy’n cynnwys asbestos

Mae cwmni gwastraff ac ailgylchu wedi cael dirwy o £36,000 am fethu dro ar ôl tro â darparu cyfleusterau lles priodol ac hyfforddiant ymwybyddiaeth asbestos i weithwyr ar safle yng Ngogledd Cymru.

Clywodd Llys Ynadon Llandudno sut yr oedd gweithwyr yn World Care (Wales) Limited yn cael y dasg o ddidoli gwastraff a deunyddiau y gellir eu hailgylchu â llaw heb fod ganddynt gyfleusterau i ymolchi a sychu eu hunain wedyn.

Ar safle World Care, canfuwyd drwy archwiliad arferol fod y cwmni wedi methu â darparu dŵr rhedegog cynnes a sebon i weithwyr, yn ogystal â dull o sychu eu hunain. Bu o leiaf un achlysur lle daethpwyd ag asbestos i’r safle, ac eto parhaodd y cwmni i beidio â darparu hyfforddiant ymwybyddiaeth asbestos i weithwyr.

Canfu ymchwiliad gan yr Awdurdod Gweithredol Iechyd a Diogelwch (HSE) fod World Care (Wales) wedi derbyn camau gorfodi ar sawl achlysur dros gyfnod o 11 mlynedd. Ar bob achlysur, canfu’r arolygwyr fod y cwmni wedi methu â chynnal y safonau iechyd a diogelwch lleiaf gofynnol. Roedd y rhybuddion gorfodi hyn yn ymwneud â darpariaethau lles a hyfforddiant.

Dywedodd yr Arolygydd HSE James Benton: “Mae’r risgiau iechyd sy’n deillio o ddod i gysylltiad â deunydd sy’n cynnwys asbestos yn hysbys iawn, ac eto nid oedd y cwmni hwn yn darparu’r cyfleusterau priodol i weithwyr amddiffyn eu hunain.

“Mae darpariaeth lles sylfaenol yn hanfodol i sicrhau bod gweithwyr yn gallu glanhau eu hunain yn y gwaith, er mwyn helpu i atal dod i gysylltiad â micro-organebau niweidiol. Ar ôl cael gwybod am y risgiau, methodd y cwmni hwn dro ar ôl tro â darparu cyfleusterau lles digonol, fel sebon a dŵr rhedegog, a methodd â darparu hyfforddiant ymwybyddiaeth o asbestos i weithwyr.”

Plediodd World Care (Wales) Limited, o Ystad Ddiwydiannol Tre Marl yng Ngogledd Cymru, yn euog i dorri Adran 2(1) o Ddeddf Iechyd a Diogelwch yn y Gwaith ac ati 1974. Cafodd y cwmni ddirwy o £36,000 a gorchymyn i dalu costau o £8,867 yn Llys Ynadon Llandudno ar 6 Gorffennaf 2026. Dewisodd y cwmni wneud y taliadau dros gyfnod o 16 mis.

Cafodd yr achos erlyn hwn gan yr HSE ei gyflwyno gan y cyfreithiwr gorfodi Alan Hughes a’r swyddog paragyfreithiol Lynne Thomas.

Nodiadau i Olygyddion

1. Yr Awdurdod gweithredol Iechyd a Diogelwch (HSE) yw rheoleiddiwr cenedlaethol Prydain ar gyfer iechyd a diogelwch yn y gweithle. Rydym wedi ymrwymo i ddiogelu pobl a lleoedd, ac i helpu pawb i fyw bywydau mwy diogel ac iachach.
2. Mae rhagor o wybodaeth am y ddeddfwriaeth y cyfeirir ati yn yr achos hwn ar gael.
3. Mae manylion pellach am ddatganiadau newyddion diweddaraf yr HSE ar gael.
4. Gellir dod o hyd i ganllawiau perthnasol yma: Rheoliadau Rheoli Asbestos 2012 a Rheoliadau’r Gweithle (Iechyd, Diogelwch a Lles) 1992.
5. Mae gweithwyr mewn crefftau medrus mewn perygl arbennig o ddod ar draws ac aflonyddu ar asbestos yn ystod eu gwaith. Sicrhewch eich bod yn gwybod beth i edrych amdano, a beth i’w wneud i amddiffyn eich hun pan fyddwch yn dod ar draws asbestos, drwy ddefnyddio ein canllaw cyflym ‘Asbestos a Chi’ ar gyfer crefftau.
6. Nid yw’r HSE yn pasio dedfrydau, yn gosod canllawiau nac yn casglu unrhyw ddirwyon a roddir. Rhaid dilyn y canllawiau dedfrydu perthnasol oni bai bod y llys yn fodlon y byddai gwneud hynny yn groes i fuddiannau cyfiawnder. Gellir dod o hyd i’r canllawiau dedfrydu ar gyfer troseddau iechyd a diogelwch

• Company had skips piled three-high in places.
• Risk of collapse described as ‘potentially catastrophic’.
• HSE guidance on the clear segregation between vehicles and pedestrians.

A waste and recycling company in South East London has been fined after Britain’s workplace regulator found multiple failures, including skips being dangerously stockpiled.

Inspectors from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) visited the site of Recycling Material Supplies Limited on Ashleigh Commercial Estate, Westmoor Street on 11 August 2022. When they arrived, the inspectors observed various vehicles, including tipper lorries and loading shovels being driven freely around the site. The pedestrian entrance was chained and padlocked, with pedestrians forced to use the vehicle entrance route used by lorries and other vehicles. There was no effective segregation by designated pedestrian routes or crossing points.

Health and safety legislation requires workplaces to be organised so that pedestrians and vehicles can circulate safely. Where large vehicles must reverse, employers must consider additional precautions and implement them where appropriate to protect those working nearby.

Although the company had a visual traffic plan, it was not visible to staff or visitors and was out of date because the site configuration had changed since it was produced, meaning it did not address key pedestrian movements such as access across the yard to toilets.

Inspectors also found skips unsafely stacked, with some of them deformed, adding to the instability. The height of the stack – which was three-high in places – also increased the likelihood of collapse or falling. The skips were also stacked in an area regularly accessed by workers, on foot or in vehicles, placing them at great risk of them falling.

The concerns led to a further visit 11 days later after a number of improvement notices were served requiring the company to take action within a specified timescale to remedy health and safety breaches of law. The subsequent HSE investigation found that the company had previously been the subject of enforcement action, with prohibition notices served in 2019 in relation to stockpiling and risks of collapse.

Recycled Material Supplies Limited, of Building 3, Ashleigh Commercial Estate, 87 Westmoor Street, London, failed to fulfil duties under Section 2 and Section 3 of the Act by putting employees, agency workers and other persons on site at risk of death and/or serious personal injury and pleased guilty of two offences under s33(1)(a) of the Act.

The company was fined £167,000 and was ordered to pay £16,195 costs at a hearing at Southwark Crown Court on 5 May 2026.

HSE enforcement lawyer Rebecca Schwartz said:

“This company put the lives of its workers at danger in a number of ways.

“Given the size and weight of skips, the potential consequences of any collapse were potentially catastrophic.

“The waste and recycling industry has a poor safety record and it is only due to sheer good fortune that nobody was seriously injured or killed.

“The fact this company had previously been made aware of its legal duties, makes this case the more stark.

“We take these failures seriously and will hold those to account who fail to keep their workers and other people safe.”

The HSE prosecution was brought by HSE enforcement lawyer Rebecca Schwartz and paralegal officer Melissa Wardle.

Further information:

1. The Health and Safety Executive is Britain’s national regulator for workplace health and safety. We are dedicated to protecting people and places, and helping everyone lead safer and healthier lives.
2. More information about the legislation referred to in this case is available.
3. Further details on the latest HSE news releases are available.
4. Relevant guidance can found here: Workplace transport safety and hand sorting of recyclables with vehicle assistance (PDF) .
5. HSE does not pass sentences, set guidelines or collect any fines imposed. Relevant sentencing guidelines must be followed unless the court is satisfied that it would be contrary to the interests of justice to do so. The sentencing guidelines for health and safety offences in England and Wales can be found here and for those in Scotland here.

Every winter, as temperatures drop, some of Britain’s most vulnerable citizens seek shelter wherever they can find it. For rough sleepers, a large commercial waste bin might seem like temporary refuge from the cold. But this desperate act of survival can quickly become a death trap.

In May 2024, Vitalij Maceljuch, 36, climbed into a cardboard recycling bin behind a kitchen store in Chester seeking shelter. Hours later, the bin was collected and tipped into a waste lorry. Despite the driver following proper checking procedures (looking into the bin, calling out, and shaking it on the lorry’s forks), Mr Maceljuch was not discovered until his body was found on a conveyor belt at a recycling depot in Flintshire. The coroner concluded he died from severe head and neck injuries, likely caused by being crushed.

This tragedy serves as a stark reminder that this is not a theoretical risk. It is a real and present danger that demands continued vigilance from businesses and waste collection services alike.

This video from the Environmental Services Association gives waste operatives an overview of how to check if someone may be sleeping inside or around a waste container and what to do if you do find someone:

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has published comprehensive guidance on preventing people getting into large waste and recycling bins, developed in partnership with the Waste Industry Safety and Health (WISH) Forum. This guidance sets out simple, practical measures that can save lives.

Tim Small, HM Principal Inspector of Health and Safety for Waste and Recycling, said: “No one should die because they sought shelter from the cold. Businesses and waste collectors have a clear responsibility to implement simple checks that can prevent these entirely avoidable tragedies.”

The solution lies in two fundamental approaches: preventing access to bins in the first place and checking bins before they are emptied. Neither of these measures requires significant investment or complex procedures. What they require is vigilance, particularly during the colder months when rough sleepers are most likely to seek shelter.

Businesses managing bin storage areas should review their waste-storage arrangements. These are the risk factors that increase the likelihood of tragedy:

• Bin areas that are isolated, dark, and easily accessible
• Bin lids that are unsecured and easy to open
• Storage containing dry materials like cardboard and textiles that might attract those seeking comfortable shelter
• Areas stored for long periods, unemptied and undisturbed

The Waste Industry Safety and Health Forum’s guidance makes clear that waste producers and businesses managing bin storage areas have the primary responsibility for ensuring people do not get into bins. Where practicable, this means locating bins in secure areas, ensuring proper lighting, and training staff to watch for and report signs of people attempting to access bins.

Where there are signs of people getting or trying to get into bins, businesses should use appropriate bin types to minimise risks. Those with lid locks, lid-opening restrictors, fixed or lockable grilles, or other access-restrictors. These security devices must be properly maintained and used at all times. During periods of cold or wet weather, these checks become even more critical.

Employees who discover someone in a bin need to understand how people in such vulnerable circumstances are likely to behave and how to manage the situation and their own safety. There is potential for aggression or violence, and workers should not attempt to restrain anyone, especially if they try to flee. The priority is helping people get out safely and reporting the incident appropriately (including under RIDDOR regulations if there are fatalities or serious injuries requiring hospital treatment).

As we approach the coldest time of the year, every business that manages commercial waste bins should review their procedures. Recording incidents where people are found in or near bins (even when no injury occurs) and sharing this information between waste producers and collectors can help all parties assess whether their control measures are adequate and identify where improvements are needed.

These are simple measures. They cost little. But they could save a life.

Notes to editors:

• The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is Britain’s national regulator for workplace health and safety. We are dedicated to protecting people and places, and helping everyone lead safer and healthier lives.
• Full guidance: Preventing people getting into large waste and recycling bins on HSE.gov.uk
• Industry guidance: Waste Industry Safety and Health Forum (WISH) guidance on managing access to large waste and recycling bins (scroll down to ref no WASTE25).
• Watch: Situational Awareness: People in Bins (an industry awareness video for waste operatives)
• Posters and information cards: Awareness post.pdf, Situational awareness – huddle card – fit for work.

• Supervisor turned machine on in devastating mix-up
• Employee suffered fractured shoulder, torn ligaments, and a broken finger
• HSE guidance highlights the importance of isolating machinery during cleaning

A North East waste and recycling company has been fined £270,000 after an employee was injured while cleaning a waste picking line.

On 24 March 2023, during cleaning of a waste picking line, an employee became trapped in a section of machinery when the line was accidentally switched on.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found 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 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.

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 here: The safe isolation of plant and equipment – HSE

Stonegrave Aggregates Limited, part of the Ashcourt Group, of Halifax Way, Pocklington, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. The company was fined £270,000 and ordered to pay full costs of £15,637 at Teesside Crown Court.

Following the hearing, HSE inspector Darian Dundas said:

“Effective monitoring, auditing and review of isolation systems is essential to demonstrate that they are working and controlling risk. Incidents like this can and should be prevented by following robust lock-off procedures.”

This prosecution was brought by HSE Enforcement Lawyer Karen Park, supported by Paralegal Officer Rebecca Foreman.

Further information:

1. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is Britain’s national regulator for workplace health and safety. We are dedicated to protecting people and places, and helping everyone lead safer and healthier lives.
2. More information about the legislation referred to in this case is available.
3. Further details on the latest HSE news releases is available.
4. HSE does not pass sentences, set guidelines or collect any fines imposed. Relevant sentencing guidelines must be followed unless the court is satisfied that it would be contrary to the interests of justice to do so.  The sentencing guidelines for health and safety offences can be found here.
5. HSE guidance can be found here: The safe isolation of plant and equipment – HSE