Burnley recycling company fined after reversing telehandler leaves employee severely injured
An employee was crushed against a wall by a reversing telehandler
A recycling company has been fined after an employee suffered life-threatening injuries when a telehandler reversed into him on a Lancashire site.
Jordan Campion, from Burnley, was working for Sheridan Skips Burnley Limited at its site in Smiths Yard, Clifton Street when the incident occurred on 12 March 2024.
Health and Safety Executive (HSE) carried out an investigation, revealing that no suitable risk assessment had been carried out and the company failed to separate vehicles and pedestrians in the yard.
Champion, alongside three other employees, were manually separating waste material in the same yard where another colleague was operating a telehandler.
Champion was standing against a brick wall at the side of the yard when the telehandler reversed into him, crushing him against the wall.
It resulted in Champion suffering multiple fractures, nerve damage to his right arm and internal organ injuries. He also lost hearing in his right ear and developed a blood clot, resulting in sight loss to his right eye.
The investigation found that 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.
Champion remained in hospital for nearly two weeks. In a statement he said:
“My incident has caused my family great distress. They permanently worry about me; they never thought that I wouldn’t be safe in work. They say you never expect to see your child go off to work and to get a phone call to say that they have had an incident and might not survive.”
Sheridan Skips Burnley Limited, of Cathedral Gates, Manchester, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.
The company was fined £24,000 and ordered to pay £4777 in costs at Blackburn Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday 11 March 2026.
After the hearing, HSE inspector Anthony Banks 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.”