Ayr recycling firm fined £80,000 after employee accident

A recycling firm has been prosecuted and fined after an employee was crushed between two skips at one of its centres in the Scottish town of Ayr in Ayrshire.

The incident occurred when 46-year-old employee Steven Graham was working between two skips and an 18-tonne shovel loader hit one of them. This caused Graham to be crushed between the skips, causing him to break his pelvis and experience difficulties walking ever since.

Lowmac Alloys, the recycling firm that owned the site, was fined £80,000 over the incident, after the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that the company had not carried out a proper risk assessment on traffic management at the site.

The firm was also accused failing to provide and maintain a safe system of work in relation to separating pedestrian workers from other on-site vehicles, as well as neglecting to ensure that the shovel loader driver was formally trained and supervised.

Lowmac Alloys pleaded guilty to breaching the Health and Safety at Work 1974 at Ayr Sheriff Court and paid the fine of £80,000, presumably using its employers’ liability insurance. This kind of professional insurance cover is mandatory for all companies with employees.

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