Environment Agency | A recycling company has been prosecuted for breaking an environmental permit requiring it to keep all waste within its site boundary.

At Nottingham Magistrates Court, Johnsons Aggregates and Recycling Ltd of Crompton Road, Ilkeston, Derbyshire, were fined £40,000 and ordered to pay costs of £49,886.75.

The company had pleaded guilty at a previous hearing on 19 July 2025 to breaching the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016.

The court was told the Environment Agency started monitoring sites in March 2021 at Hallam Fields Industrial Estate, Ilkeston, due to complaints about dust, odour, and noise.

Officers attended land adjacent to the defendant company’s land, they discovered that a large amount of waste material was on the land. The waste was a type of ash which is commonly used as an aggregate in construction.

Company officials said that the land was owned by someone else and was in the early stages of being developed. They also said that waste on the land had been placed there with the landowner’s permission and for the landowner’s use.

However, the company later accepted that it had made mistakes in dealing with waste and that it had breached its permit by placing the waste on the land.

The Environment Agency issued a compliance assessment report requiring the company to operate within the boundary of the permit.

The officers returned to the site on 11 May 2021 where they observed that large amounts of waste remained on site. Company officials said the waste had accumulated and had been more difficult to dispose of due to COVID-19.

The company was told to remove the ash from the land by 3 January 2022.

Officers visited the land on 4 January 2022 and found that the mounds of waste, though reduced in size, were still being stored and covered approximately five acres.

HSE | Skyladder Construction Limited has been fined £33,500 after a man died when he fell through a skylight opening at a domestic property.

The company was constructing a single-storey extension with a flat roof at a property in Farnborough. On the evening of 20 July 2022, it began to rain, and the company director and an employee returned to the site at approximately 11pm to cover the new roof with a blue plastic tarpaulin, securing it with logs of wood.

Bhakta Rai accompanied the employee to the site that evening. At some point, Mr Rai went onto the roof to assist and fell through a hole intended for a skylight, falling approximately 2.5 metres onto the concrete floor below.

In an attempt to recover Mr Rai, he was lifted back through the roof opening, carried across the roof, and then brought down a ladder at the front of the property. No ambulance was called, and Mr Rai was transported to hospital in a van. He died a few days later after sustaining significant injuries, including a spinal fracture, fractured skull, possible bleed on the brain, and swelling to the head.

The HSE attended the scene on 21 July 2022. Between the police leaving the site (at around 4am) and the HSE’s arrival later that day, the tarpaulin had been replaced, covering the roof.

An HSE investigation found that Skyladder Construction Limited failed to take suitable and sufficient measures to prevent, so far as was reasonably practicable, any person from falling a distance liable to cause personal injury. There were no physical measures in place at the edges of the building or around the skylight openings to prevent a fall, and no measures to mitigate the distance or impact of a fall.

Skyladder Construction Limited also contravened a requirement imposed by an HSE inspector. During the investigation, the HSE requested information from the company under Section 20 of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, which it is an offence not to provide. No response was received.

Skyladder Construction Limited, of 8 Harbour Close, Farnborough, GU14 8HT, pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 6(3) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005 and Section 33(1)(e) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 for failing to provide information requested under Section 20 of the Act.

The company was fined £33,500, ordered to pay £8,472 in costs, and a £2,000 victim surcharge at Basingstoke Magistrates’ Court on 31 October 2025.

Following the hearing, HSE Inspector Jenny Morris said: “Falls when working at height remain the most common kind of workplace fatality, accounting for around a quarter of all worker deaths. In this case, this was a wholly avoidable incident — Mr Rai died in a fall which should never have been able to happen.”

This prosecution was brought by HSE Enforcement Lawyer Rebecca Schwartz and Paralegal Officer Helen Hugo.

HSE | A plastics conversion company based in Derbyshire has been fined £277,500 after an employee sustained fatal injuries when he became trapped in the moving parts of an unguarded machine.

Paul Whalley, 46, was employed by Reflex Flexible Packaging Ltd at their factory on Amber Drive, Langley Mill, when the incident occurred.

On 29 May 2020, Mr. Whalley entered an opening in the side of a plastic conversion machine that permitted whole-body access to dangerous moving parts. The area contained several unguarded mechanisms, and Mr. Whalley became trapped in the machine.

Despite efforts by the emergency services, including cutting conveyor belts and rollers to free him, he died at the scene from crush asphyxia.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that Reflex Flexible Packaging Ltd failed to carry out a suitable and sufficient risk assessment for operation of the machine.

The company had not installed appropriate guarding to prevent access to dangerous parts and had no written safe systems of work or isolation procedures in place.

HSE guidance states that employers must take effective measures to prevent access to dangerous parts of machinery.

This typically involves fixed guarding, but where routine access is required, interlocked guards may be needed to stop movement before a person can reach the danger zone.

Reflex Flexible Packaging Ltd, of Hamilton Way, Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.

The company was fined £277,500 and ordered to pay £20,000 in costs at Derby Crown Court.

HSE | A care home company has been fined over £1.8 million after a resident choked on a piece of food while consuming her evening meal alone in her room.

Elizabeth Campbell (known as Peggy) was a 96-year-old resident of Cradlehall Care Home in Inverness. She was on a specialist diet of soft, moist, and bite-sized food and her care plan stated that she should be closely supervised when eating and drinking.

The Court heard that on 11 June 2022, the unit where Peggy resided was staffed by two agency carers who were responsible for twelve residents. At about 5.45pm, Peggy was served a meal of macaroni and chips while sitting up in bed.

One of the carers left to get a drink to accompany her meal but was then forced to deal with urgent issues with two other residents which required her to call for assistance from another unit. As a result of this disruption the resident was left on her own for up to 20 minutes by the time the carer returned to her room with the drink.

The carer raised the alarm, and other staff came to assist. A paramedic arrived shortly afterwards and the woman was pronounced dead.

An investigation by the HSE concluded that Peggy’s death was caused by the fact the company had failed to ensure that all those working in the home had access to and were familiar with the care plans of its residents and that crucially Peggy had been left unsupervised while eating.

Following the investigation, HSE took action against the company, with improvements later being made to ensure there was a “skills mix” during shifts, ensuring any agency staff were always assisted by regular employees, who were more aware of the needs of the home’s residents.

HC-One Limited, who run the care home, pleaded guilty to failings under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. The company was fined £1.8 million at Inverness Sheriff Court.

HSE | A construction company has been fined after a worker fell from the roof of a partially constructed barn in Shropshire.

The man had been appointed by Dewi Williams Limited to complete the installation of roof sheets onto a barn that was under construction at a site in Oswestry.

On 2 September 2023, he was stood on a roof sheet that he had recently installed, attempting to put the next one in place, when he fell to the ground below. His fall resulted in significant injuries, including fractures to his ribs and skull.

The HSE’s investigation found that Dewi Williams Limited failed to properly plan the work and to put in place measures to prevent or protect against a fall from height. Furthermore, company director Dewi Williams was directly involved in the work and had allowed it to be carried out in an unsafe manner.

Dewi Williams Limited of the Lowlands, Crickheathe, Oswestry, Shropshire, pleaded guilty to breaches of Regulations 4(1) and 6(3) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005 and was fined £15,000 and ordered to pay costs of £2,000.

Dewi Williams of the Lowlands, Crickheathe, Oswestry, Shropshire, SY10 8BS, pleaded guilty to the same breaches by virtue of Section 37 of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. He was given a 12-month conditional discharge and ordered to pay £1,000 in costs.

HSE | A Middlesbrough road haulage company has been fined £250,000 after a man died while working inside a shipping container.

Gary Lee James, 30 was working for Ward Bros (Malton) Ltd at its yard at South Bank, in the early hours of 8 January 2019, when he suffered a fatal injury.

Mr James and a colleague had been standing up metal frames, each weighing approximately 120kg, within a shipping container, part of what is known as a “devanning” activity.

As the two men lifted the sixth frame, the fifth one fell back towards them, followed by the four others. Mr James was pinned by the neck between the container wall and the fallen frames. Although he was transported to James Cook University Hospital after suffering a cardiac arrest, he was sadly pronounced dead three days later.

The HSE’s investigation found the frames had not been secured to the container wall. It found that Ward Bros (Malton) Ltd failed to ensure, so far is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare of its employees, including Gary James, at work in connection with the devanning of containers.

Despite the company having never undertaken devanning work before, it failed to create a suitable and sufficient written risk assessment. There was no clear and properly planned safe system of work for its employees.

Instead, the regulator commented that the company embarked upon an ‘ad-hoc and ultimately unsafe system of work, which was not effectively communicated to the employees who were left largely unsupervised to determine their own methods of devanning the containers’.

Ward Bros (Malton) Ltd, of Dormor Way, South Bank, Middlesbrough, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. The company was fined £250,000 with costs to be determined at a later date.

HSE Inspector Joy Craighead said: “This was a tragic and preventable incident, that cost a young man his life. Every year, a significant proportion of accidents, many of them serious and sometimes fatal, occur as a result of poorly planned work activity.

“In this case there was a complete failure to risk assess and implement control measures. Had the company done so, Mr James would still be alive.”

This HSE prosecution was brought by HSE enforcement lawyer Jonathan Bambro and law clerk Rebecca Forman.

Personnel Today | The Employment Rights Bill will now enter a “ping pong” battle after a number of amendments were rejected by the House of Lords.

The Bill had reached one of the final stages in its path to reaching Royal Assent, the consideration of amendments, but must now return to the House of Commons until agreements on these measures can be reached.

Peers proposed changes to zero-hours clauses, the day-one right to unfair dismissal protections, industrial action ballot thresholds, and union members paying a political levy.

They voted 302 to 159 against a proposal in the Bill to require employers to offer guaranteed hours to employees from day one.

Instead, Lord Fox, Liberal Democrat, proposed that employers write to workers at the end of each reference period for guaranteed hours and give them the option to accept or decline.

This would mean workers still have a meaningful offer of guaranteed hours but have the flexibility to opt in or out of this after an initial period.

Day-one unfair dismissal was defeated by 301 votes to 153, with the recent “Day One Frights” report from the Resolution Foundation urging the UK Government not to proceed with the right in its current form, cited multiple times.

Peers also voted in favour of keeping the 50% turnout threshold for an industrial action ballot of trade union members to be valid by 267 votes to 153.

A proposal to automatically sign up trade union members to pay a political levy was rejected by 249 votes to 142.

Conservative peer Baron Sharpe of Epsom said that day-one unfair dismissal rights would discourage employers from “taking a risk” on young workers, echoing some of the sentiments in the Resolution Foundation’s report.

Former TUC leader Baroness O’Grady argued that employers would still be able to dismiss workers “fairly” under the Employment Rights Bill, adding that without day-one protection, workers would “continue to bear the risk that they can be sacked at whim.”

The Commons and Lords now enter a back and forth, or “ping pong” process with the Bill being exchanged between them until they both agree on the final version.

There is no official time limit for this, but a Bill could fail to become law if it runs out of time within a parliamentary session. Only once agreement is reached can the Bill receive Royal Assent and become an Act of Parliament.

Birmingham City Council | A company has been prosecuted for failing to comply with an Improvement Notice relating to fire safety measures, the first West Midlands local authority to do so.

Freehold Managers (Nominees) Limited, the company responsible for Centenary Plaza on Holliday Street, pleaded guilty to failing to comply with an Improvement Notice.

The prosecution is significant because it is only the second such prosecution by a local authority using powers provided under the Housing Act 2004, and the first in the West Midlands.

Birmingham City Council pursued legal action using these powers after Freehold Managers (Nominees) Limited, based at 250 Bishopsgate, London, failed to undertake the necessary improvement works required to make the building safe, as detailed in the Improvement Notice issued by the council on 5 September 2023.

The Improvement Notice mandated improvements, including the repair of fire doors, improvements to emergency lighting, and the provision of suitable means of escape from the building, in the event of a fire.

During sentencing at Birmingham Magistrates’ Court, a fine of £50,000 was imposed on the business, considering its early guilty plea, the company’s financial position, and the council’s legal costs.

After the Grenfell Tower fire, the council formed a team of specialist officers to address fire safety in high-rise buildings, funded by a UK Government grant. This is the first such prosecution from the team, and the second in the country.

HSE | A horticultural company has been fined after an employee suffered serious injuries after falling from a ladder.

The employee had been tasked to check irrigation that was watering plants contained in hanging baskets at the site in Banbury on 7 June 2023.

As the man climbed the ladder, it fell and collapsed under him, resulting in five broken ribs and a partially collapsed lung.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that Ball Colegrave Ltd failed to ensure so far as is reasonably practicable the health, safety, and welfare at work of all their employees. In this instance, there was a failure to ensure that work at height was planned and carried out in a manner which was so far as is reasonably practicable safe.

Working at height remains one of the leading causes of workplace injury and death and HSE has detailed guidance on working safely at height.

Ball Colegrave Limited of Milton Road, West Adderbury, Banbury pleaded guilty to contravening a requirement of section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.

The company was fined £80,000 and was ordered to pay £7,061 costs at a hearing at Oxford Magistrates’ Court.

Environment Agency | The EA has successfully prosecuted a father and son for running an illegal scrap metal site in Northamptonshire.

At Northampton Crown Court, Henry Thomas Allen, 73, and his son Lee Allen, 37, both of Station Road, Irthlingborough, both received prison sentences of six months suspended for 18 months.

This was on condition that they each undertake 15 Rehabilitation Activity Requirement Days. They were also ordered to pay £5,000 each in costs plus a victim surcharge of £128.

The guilty pleas, at a previous hearing, were for operating without an environmental permit and handling waste in a manner likely to cause pollution.

The court was told that the Environment Agency had designated a scrap metal business in Station Road as a site of concern for a number of years.

Located in the River Nene flood plain and without the correct sealed, foul drainage system, the site contained large quantities of motor vehicle waste.

This included batteries, tyres, gas cannisters, fridges, freezers, and motor vehicle fluids such as fuel, oil and battery acid. This was stored on bare ground without the correct, sealed, drainage system with a working interceptor.

The company was instructed to remove the unpermitted scrap metal on the land.

However, the Environment Agency continued to receive complaints that new waste was being treated and stored.

Officers visited the site and on several occasions provided advice, guidance and support.

Sarah Dunne, the Environment Agency’s Solicitor Advocate, told the court that officers had made every effort to work with the Allens to bring the site into compliance with environmental law. This included guidance regarding the storage and treatment of motor vehicle waste.

However, in spite of this advice, the company continued to accept, deposit, and store large quantities of waste metals including end-of-life vehicles. They also became uncooperative with Environment Agency officials.

After a court warrant was gained, Henry Allen was arrested with support from Northamptonshire Police. Drone images showed the scale of the waste on site.

The court was told that the father had a long history of non-cooperation with the Environment Agency. He had been served with a warning letter.

Though his son was made sole director of the company, the court was told this was nothing more than a paper exercise.

Sentencing both Allens, His Honour Judge Mayo said that their offending had crossed the custody threshold, that the risk of harm had been high and that they had undermined lawful waste operators.

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