Skip hire company and director sentenced after ignoring health and safety warnings

Reports of poor conditions at a skip hire site in Sheffield have led to fines of £65,000 for the company and a suspended sentence for its director.

M White (Skips) Limited were visited by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) on 8 August 2024, following reports of poor health and safety practices.

Arriving at site, inspectors found skips loaded with waste material stacked along the public highway. Piles of other waste prevented workers from safely moving around the site and blocked access to facilities, including staff toilets.

HSE took immediate action, issuing prohibition notices to prevent the skips being stacked with any more material. Prohibition notices are legal orders that serve to halt certain work activities, imposed if a HSE inspector believes that activity will pose a serious risk of injury.

M White (Skips) Limited ignored the notice. When HSE visited a month later for a follow-up, they investigated further. They found that the company did not hold Employers’ Liability (Compulsory Insurance), a legal requirement for all UK businesses.

HSE issued further prohibition notices, including one to prevent employees from hand-sorting skip waste on the pavement, as this posed a risk to passing members of public.

The company’s general health and safety standards were found to have seriously declined, with no effective management system in place. This, and the company’s failure to engage with enforcement notices, put its employees and the general public at significant risk.

Both the company and its sole director, Jamie White, were charged with a number of offences.

M White (Skips) Limited pleaded not guilty to the offences. Following a trial at Sheffield Magistrates’ Court, they were found guilty of non-compliance with three prohibition notices, breaches of sections 2(1) and 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act, and a breach of section 1(1) of the Employers’ Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Act 1969.

The company was fined £65,000 and ordered to pay £13,280 in costs at the hearing on 23 January 2025.

Company director Jamie White was found guilty of non-compliance with two prohibition notices, and to breaching sections 2(1) and 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act by virtue of section 37(1), and also section 1(1) of the Employers’ Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Act 1969.

Mr White was sentenced to an eight-month custodial sentence, suspended for 12 months, and must complete 150 hours of unpaid work. He was also disqualified as a company director for three years and ordered to pay £13,280 in prosecution costs.

HSE inspector Laura Hunter spoke after the hearing:

“As the sole director, Jamie White also worked on the site and was fully aware of the poor conditions which his employees were subjected to.

“Full skips were deposited and stored on the public highway, with employees later needing to use the street to sort through waste materials when the site became inaccessible.

“By law, employers are required to insure against liability – it is compulsory insurance. Mr White failed to arrange for his company to obtain it for his workers.

“Companies should ensure that they understand and follow health and safety laws and guidance and act responsibly to protect both their employees and the public from the activities under their control.”

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