Cleanzine: your weekly cleaning and hygiene industry newsletter 4th December 2025 Issue no. 1189

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Biffa fined almost £2.5 million after worker crushed by skip wagon

Waste management company Biffa has been fined £2.48 million after a worker was run over by a reversing skip wagon at a waste transfer station in Bradford.

James Tabiri, 57, was working as a sort line operative at Biffa Waste Services's waste transfer site in Bradford. In August 2023, while making his way to the site office across the weighbridge, he was struck from behind by a reversing skip wagon. The impact caused him to fall, and he died from crush injuries from the rear wheels.

Our image shows a screenshot of CCTV footage seconds before the collision. The vehicle involved is reversing in from the left-hand side.

An investigation by the Health & Safety Executive found that Biffa Waste Services failed to effectively review and monitor the control measures in place to protect pedestrians and keep them separate from vehicle movements.

CCTV footage from the week before the incident showed that it was common practice for people on site to bypass segregated pedestrian routes, with some seen climbing over barriers that were intended to keep them safe.

By law, employers must ensure traffic routes can be used without putting workers at risk.

Biffa Waste Services, of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 5(1) of the Management of Health & Safety at Work Regulations 1999. The company was fined £2.48 million and ordered to pay full costs of £5,768.

"This incident was easily avoidable,” says HSE inspector Elliot Archer. “Control measures were in place to allow pedestrians and vehicles to move safely, but a lack of monitoring and supervision allowed poor working practices to develop between the workers on site. Our investigation found a casual attitude to health & safety with workers treating a high hazard site like a playground.

"Nearly a quarter of all deaths involving workplace transport occur during reversing manoeuvres.

"This tragic incident should be a reminder to the waste industry not to become complacent with the risks workplace transport poses, and that even where control measures are in place to segregate pedestrians and vehicles, robust monitoring and supervision of their correct usage need to be in place."

Guidance on managing vehicle movements in the workplace is available at Transport movements is available at:

https://www.hse.gov.uk/waste/transport.htm

6th November 2025