18th March 2026

Company Fined After Worker Is Crushed By Telehandler

What’s Happened?

A Burnley-based waste and recycling company has been fined after an employee suffered life-changing injuries after being crushed by a reversing telehandler at a site in Lancashire.

The Injured person (IP) and three other members of staff were sorting and separating waste material by hand in the same yard as a colleague who was operating a telehandler. The IP was standing against a brick wall at the side of the yard when the telehandler reversed into him, crushing him against the wall.

As a result, the IP suffered multiple fractures, nerve damage to his right arm and internal organ injuries. He also lost partial hearing in his right ear and developed a blood clot, which caused optical damage to his right eye, resulting in permanent sight loss in that eye.

HSE Investigation

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that the IP and other employees frequently worked in the yard while vehicles operated alongside them. The company had not undertaken a suitable and sufficient assessment of the risks and failed to provide adequate measures for the safe segregation of vehicles and pedestrians. There was no physical protection from vehicle movement, which regularly put employees in considerable danger.

The investigation also found that the telehandler operator could not see clearly while reversing, as the machine was missing mirrors to aid reversing, a deficiency the company had failed to address.

In Court

The company appeared at Blackburn Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday, 11 March 2026, where they pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. The company was fined £24,000 and ordered to pay £4,777 costs.

After the hearing, the HSE inspector involved in the case said: “This young man’s injuries could so easily have been avoided with the implementation of safe working practices, including pedestrian and vehicle segregation and safe refuges for workers whilst vehicles were operating. These measures would have ensured that workers present in the yard were not put at risk of being struck by vehicles moving in and around where they were working.

“This should serve as a reminder to businesses operating in the waste industry to ensure that workplace transport is appropriately considered, with control measures introduced to ensure the appropriate separation of vehicles and pedestrians.”