Earlier this year, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) updated its guidance for those operating in the waste and recycling sector to help organisations and individuals better protect workers and the public, while ensuring compliance with legal obligations.
This refresh comes against a backdrop of persistently poor health and safety performance in the sector. The HSE’s 2024/2025 statistics confirm that self-reported fatal and non-fatal injury rates in waste and recycling remain higher than in most other industries. Alongside these developments, the HSE has also issued additional guidance addressing the increased risks associated with rough sleepers entering commercial waste containers.
This article summarises the health and safety responsibilities placed on organisations and individuals operating in waste and recycling, provides an overview of the HSE’s new and refreshed guidance and outline the latest fatality and injury trends.
We also explore the recent judgment in the R W Waste Limited case handed down on 16 April 2026, where the company failed to protect pedestrians from moving vehicles in its yard - an issue that continues to feature prominently in health and safety incidents within waste and recycling industries.
Individuals and organisations involved in the waste and recycling industry have legal responsibilities to ensure the health and safety of workers and others who may be affected by their activities. These duties extend beyond employers and include site operators, waste producers, contractors, subcontractors and anyone with control over work activities, equipment or premises.
Dutyholders are required to assess risks, implement suitable control measures, provide appropriate training and supervision, and ensure that workplaces, vehicles and waste handling processes are safe. These obligations apply not only to employees, but also to agency workers, contractors, members of the public and vulnerable individuals who may come into contact with waste operations, including rough sleepers.
Earlier this year, the HSE released refreshed guidance for the waste and recycling industry, developed in collaboration with the Waste Industry Safety and Health Forum (WISH). The revised guidance aims to make compliance easier and more accessible by removing outdated or duplicated material, reflecting current industry practice, and improving the structure and navigation of the guidance pages.
The updated guidance covers a wide range of issues, including:
The refreshed guidance reinforces long established expectations around risk management, particularly in relation to workplace transport and vehicle pedestrian interaction, areas which remain a significant cause of serious injury in the sector.
A link to the HSE’s new waste and recycling guidance pages can be reached here.
The updated guidance sits against a continuing backdrop of disproportionately high injury and fatality rates in the waste and recycling industry. According to the HSE’s 2025 report 'Waste collection, treatment and disposal activities; materials recovery statistics in Great Britain', the sector recorded four worker fatalities and three fatal injuries to members of the public in 2024/25. Over 52% of these deaths involved people being struck by moving vehicles. A copy of this report can be accessed here.
Non fatal injuries continue to present a serious concern. Labour Force Survey data estimates that around 4,000 workers sustained non fatal injuries between 2017/18 and 2024/25. This is supported by Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR) data for 2024/25, which recorded 1,530 non fatal employee injuries reported by employers in the sector. Of these, 27% were specified injuries and 73% resulted in over seven days’ incapacitation.
The most common causes of injury remain well known hazards within the sector, including slips, trips and falls, manual handling activities, falls from height, and incidents involving moving vehicles or falling objects. These figures again place waste and recycling among the poorest performing industries for fatal injury, with a rate of 3.65 deaths per 100,000 workers, approximately 8.2 times the all industry average.
The HSE has also issued specific guidance addressing the risk of rough sleepers seeking refuge in large commercial or communal waste containers. The guidance can be accessed here.
This guidance sets out practical control measures for both those responsible for managing waste storage areas and waste collection operators, with the aim of preventing serious injury or death during bin lifting and compaction operations.
The guidance identifies factors that increase the likelihood of someone entering a bin, such as unsecured lids, poorly lit or easily accessible storage areas, and bins containing dry or 'comfortable' materials like cardboard, paper or textiles. It outlines control measures including restricting access to bins, securing waste storage areas and ensuring bins are thoroughly checked before collection.
The HSE emphasises that those in control of a site bear the primary responsibility for keeping bins safe and confirming that no person is inside them prior to collection. Waste collectors are further advised to carry out visual and verbal checks and to stop compaction immediately if a person is discovered.
The guidance also recommends recording brief details of all such incidents, even where they are not reportable under RIDDOR, sharing information with relevant stakeholders and using those records to review and improve existing control measures.
R W Waste Limited, a Hampshire waste management company, was recently prosecuted by the HSE, following a serious workplace incident in which a worker suffered life changing injuries after being run over by a reversing 15 tonne excavator on 7 November 2023. The worker, who was sorting waste at the time, lost both lower legs and has been unable to return to work since the incident.
An HSE investigation found that the company had failed to implement adequate measures to separate pedestrians from moving vehicles, despite clear and well established legal requirements relating to workplace transport safety. R W Waste Limited pleaded guilty to breaching sections 2(1) and 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.
At a hearing at Southampton Magistrates’ Court on 16 April 2026, the judge informed that, had the company not entered liquidation, it would have been sentenced to a fine of £180,000, reduced to £120,000 to reflect the guilty plea. However, due to the company’s insolvency, the court imposed only a nominal £1 fine, with no order for costs.
The HSE’s press release on this prosecution can be found here.
The refreshed and new guidance forms part of the HSE’s continued focus on improving safety standards in an industry that remains inherently high risk. These updates provide a clear indication of the standards the regulator expects organisations to meet and are likely to be relied upon when determining compliance and enforcement action.
The prosecution of R W Waste Limited illustrates the significant consequences that can arise from failures to manage well known risks in the sector. Although the fine imposed in that case was nominal, this reflected the company’s liquidation rather than any lack of seriousness attached to the offences. The judge made clear that, but for the company’s insolvency, a substantial financial penalty would have been imposed. This serves as an important reminder that breaches of health and safety law can and do attract significant fines where financial circumstances allow.
Those involved in the waste and recycling industry should take the opportunity to review their risk assessments, ensure staff training is current, confirm that sites and collection procedures reflect recognised best practice, and verify that incident investigation and RIDDOR reporting arrangements are accurate and robust.
Taking proactive steps now will help reduce the likelihood of serious harm, regulatory enforcement and reputational damage. Failure to do so risks organisations finding themselves in circumstances similar to those faced by R W Waste Limited, with devastating consequences for individuals and significant legal exposure for businesses.
If you require advice in relation to health and safety law, or are facing investigation or prosecution by the HSE, please contact our business risk and regulation team.
