CF Booth: Rotherham firm fined £1.2m after worker hit by skip wagon

CF Booth pleaded guilty at Sheffield Magistrates' Court to one count of breaching health and safety law

A metal recycling company has been fined £1.2m after a worker was hit by a 32-tonne skip wagon.

The man suffered a fractured skull and broken collar bone in the incident at CF Booth's site in Rotherham in 2020.

A Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation found the site was not organised in a way to allow pedestrians and vehicles to "circulate safely".

CF Booth pleaded guilty at Sheffield Magistrates' Court to one count of breaching health and safety law.

According to the HSE, the worker, who was not wearing a high-vis jacket at the time, was walking across the yard when he was hit by the wagon.

The driver did not see the employee prior to the collision either, due to concentrating on manoeuvring the wagon around some low-level skips, the regulator added.

The man has since made a full recovery.

'Easily avoided'

Following the incident, HSE investigators found the firm did not have a "suitable and sufficient workplace transport risk assessment" in place and had "failed to take steps to properly assess the risks posed by the movement of vehicles and pedestrians".

Speaking after the court hearing on 25 April, HSE inspector Kirstie Durrans said: "If CF Booth Limited had assessed the risks and ensured vehicles and pedestrians could circulate in a safe manner, this incident could have easily been avoided."

CF Booth was also ordered to pay costs of £5,694.85.

The firm declined to comment.