A recycling company in Wales has been fined £300,000 after a man was killed by a shovel loader.
Anthony Bilton, from Barry, Vale of Glamorgan, lost his life on 4 September 2019 when he was run over from behind by a Volvo shovel loader at Atlantic Recycling Limited’s Atlantic Ecopark site in Cardiff.
Jason and Anthony Bilton. Credit: HSE.
The 59-year-old had been on his way to undertake routine maintenance tasks when the incident happened, while walking across the wood processing yard.
Health and Safety Executive (HSE) inspector Rhys Hughes said Atlantic Recycling failed to ensure pedestrians and vehicles were separated at its site.
The HSE also found that although a risk assessment had been produced prior to the work commencing, it was not suitable nor sufficient and did not include work taking place in the wood yard. Additionally, the risk assessment should have identified there was a risk to pedestrians where there were moving vehicles.
Anthony’s son, Jason, said: “It took over three hours for me to be notified that my dad had been killed in a work accident. I started to become concerned when he weren’t home from work at his usual time and failed to answer the phone. I remember thinking about popping by his workplace to see him whilst on my journey home from Telford, where I’d been for the past few days, but decided against it as I was exhausted from traveling.
“Had I gone to see him, I would’ve arrived at Atlantic Recycling between 3:30-4pm, he was killed around 4:10pm. Every day I deal with thoughts that: ‘If only I’d stopped to see him, he could still be alive today.’”
Atlantic Recycling Limited pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. The company was fined £300,000 and ordered to pay £29,917.47 in costs at Merthyr Tydfil Magistrates’ Court on 28 February 2024.
HSE inspector Rhys Hughes said: “This tragic incident led to the death of a father of two and could have been prevented. Atlantic Recycling Ltd should have identified, and controlled the risks involved with using large plant and vehicles in line with HSE guidance.
“A safe system of work should have been in place, ensuring that pedestrians and vehicles were segregated. This is sadly a common cause of fatal incidents in this sector. The most effective way of protecting pedestrians in any workplace is to make transport routes entirely separate.”
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