• Employee sustained life-changing injuries when struck by a reversing vehicle.
• HSE investigation found the workplace did not have proper measures to separate vehicles and pedestrians.
• Nearly one in four workplace vehicle incidents involving reversing – HSE guidance advises setting up one-systems to remove the need for reversing.

A landscaping and civil engineering company has been fined £125,000 after a man was seriously injured when struck by a reversing vehicle in Wolverhampton.

The 58-year-old employee of Jack Moody Landscaping and Civil Engineering Limited suffered life-changing injuries after a visiting flatbed truck reversed into him as he walked across the company’s site at Hollybush Farm on Warstone Road on 22 September 2017. The worker sustained serious head injuries, damage to his eyesight, and significant mental and psychological trauma.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that the workplace had not been organised to allow pedestrians and vehicles to circulate safely. There were no clearly demarcated pedestrian routes, no instructions for drivers on safe vehicle manoeuvring, and inadequate arrangements to ensure vehicles could reverse without risk to those on foot.

Nearly a quarter of all deaths involving workplace transport occur during reversing. Many other reversing accidents do not result in injury but cause costly damage to vehicles, equipment and premises.

HSE guidance on reversing advises to remove the need for reversing altogether by setting up one-way systems, for example drive-through loading and unloading positions. Where reversing is unavoidable, routes should be organised to minimise the need for reversing.

Jack Moody Landscaping and Civil Engineering Limited, of Hollybush Farm, Warstone Road, Shareshill, Wolverhampton, was found guilty of breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 following a trial at Wolverhampton Crown Court in November 2025. The company was fined £125,000 and ordered to pay £150,000 in costs at a sentencing hearing at the same court on 15 June 2026.

Speaking after the hearing, HSE Principal Inspector Laura Royales said:

“This was a completely avoidable incident, caused by the company’s failure to put in place very straightforward measures to separate vehicles and pedestrians.

“Workplace transport incidents remain one of the most common causes of fatal injuries in this sector, and it is fortunate that this incident did not prove fatal.

“Employers must ensure their workplaces are properly organised to keep workers safe.”

Further information:

1. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is Britain’s national regulator for workplace health and safety. We are dedicated to protecting people and places, and helping everyone lead safer and healthier lives.
2. More information about the legislation referred to in this case is available.
3. Further details on the latest HSE news releases are available.
4. Relevant guidance can be found here: Introduction to workplace transport safety – HSE
5. HSE does not pass sentences, set guidelines or collect any fines imposed. Relevant sentencing guidelines must be followed unless the court is satisfied that it would be contrary to the interests of justice to do so.  The sentencing guidelines for health and safety offences can be found here.