Waste and recycling company fined after worker death

  • Stuart Garnet, 44, was fatally struck by a reversing telehandler at a Cumbria-based waste and recycling company
  • An HSE investigation found H. Wicks (Lindal) Limited failed to ensure pedestrians and vehicles could circulate safely on site

A waste and recycling company in Cumbria has been fined £60,000 after an employee was hit and killed by a reversing telehandler in Barrow-in-Furness.

Stuart Garnet, 44, was working at H. Wicks (Lindal) Limited’s waste and recycling facility when he was struck by a reversing telehandler on 12 May 2022. He subsequently died of his injuries.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that H. Wicks (Lindal) Limited failed to ensure the site was organised in such a way that pedestrians and vehicles could circulate in a safe manner.

By law, employers must ensure traffic routes can be used without putting workers at risk. Guidance on managing vehicle movements in the workplace is available on the HSE website.

H. Wicks (Lindal) Limited, of Scarth Road, Sowerby Woods Business Park, Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.

The company was fined £60,000 and ordered to pay costs of £6,624.75 at Warrington Magistrates’ Court on 26 May 2026. A statutory surcharge of £2,000 was also imposed.

HSE Principal Inspector Caroline Shorrock said:

“Stuart Garnet’s death was an avoidable tragedy, and our thoughts are with his friends and family.

“Every year, a significant number of workplace accidents, many of them serious and sometimes fatal, occur because of poor separation of pedestrians and vehicles.

“Had the company implemented suitable separation measures, this fatal injury would not have occurred. The fine imposed on H. Wicks (Lindal) Limited should serve as a clear reminder to everyone in the waste and recycling industry that HSE will hold to account those who fail to keep their workers safe.”

This HSE prosecution was brought by HSE enforcement lawyer Matthew Reynolds and paralegal officer Henrietta Ruthven.

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 is available.
  4. Relevant guidance can be found here: Transport safety in waste and recycling – 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 in Scotland can be found here