South Cumbrian Company Fined £60,000 After Worker Killed in Industrial Accident
A South Cumbrian waste and recycling firm has been fined following the death of an employee who was fatally injured in a workplace accident involving heavy machinery.
Stuart Garnett, 44, died after being struck by a reversing telehandler while working at H Wicks (Lindal) Limited’s waste and recycling site in Barrow on May 12, 2022. Emergency services attended the scene, but Mr Garnett later died from the injuries he suffered during the incident.
An investigation carried out by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that the company had failed to organise the site in a manner that allowed pedestrians and vehicles to move around safely. Investigators concluded that proper separation measures between workers on foot and moving machinery had not been adequately implemented.
The HSE stated that the incident could have been prevented had appropriate safety controls and traffic management systems been in place at the facility.
H Wicks (Lindal) Limited, based at Sowerby Woods Business Park in Barrow, admitted breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.
During proceedings at Warrington Magistrates’ Court, the company was fined £60,000 and ordered to pay more than £6,600 in legal costs. An additional statutory surcharge of £2,000 was also imposed by the court.
Following the hearing, HSE principal inspector Caroline Shorrock described the death as “an avoidable tragedy” and stressed the importance of maintaining safe separation between vehicles and pedestrians in industrial workplaces.
She warned that incidents involving moving vehicles remain one of the leading causes of serious and fatal injuries in the waste and recycling sector and said the case should act as a reminder to employers about their responsibilities to protect workers.
The tragic case has renewed concerns over workplace safety standards in high-risk industrial environments, particularly in sectors involving heavy machinery and vehicle movement.
Investigations into workplace safety failures continue to be a major focus for regulators across the UK, with authorities increasingly taking enforcement action against companies that fail to meet required standards.
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