The Danger of Reversing Vehicles at Work (Out of Sight Out of Mind?)

Quite apart from the personal tragedy of a lost life companies will also face huge financial penalties and in some cases individuals could face allegations for corporate manslaughter.  One work activity where serious, often fatal accidents seem to occur all too regularly is when vehicles are reversing in the workplace as some very recent prosecutions by HSE amply demonstrate.

A London-based grocery supplier has recently been fined £1 million after a worker was killed by a reversing HGV during a delivery in Manchester.  An employee of  Bestway Northern Limited, a wholesale supplier serving independent supermarkets across Britain, when a fatal incident occurred. 

On 19 February 2019, the deceased and a colleague were making a delivery to a store in central Manchester. He was acting as a banksman, directing his colleague who was reversing the HGV. While attempting to guide the vehicle into the unloading area, the deceased became trapped between the vehicle and a wall. He sustained fatal crush injuries.

Obviously, the effect upon the deceased’s partner and children was devastating. An HSE investigation found that the company had failed to implement a safe system of work for vehicle movements. The company also failed to adequately assess the risks involved in the task or provide sufficient training for employees acting as banksmen.

The company pleaded guilty to breaching regulation 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. It was fined £1 million and ordered to pay full prosecution costs at a hearing at Manchester Magistrates’ Court on Friday 18 July 2025.

In another very similar case, a textile manufacturer has been fined £220,000 after its director was killed by a reversing heavy goods vehicle (HGV). 

The deceased director of The British Millerain Company Limited had offered to stay behind at the company warehouse to wait for the return of the vehicle on 22 June 2023. The truck arrived at around 5.30pm. The deceased  spoke to the driver and confirmed he would act as banksman to help the vehicle reverse into the warehouse.

During the manoeuvre, the driver lost sight of deceased and when he got out to check, he found him trapped between the vehicle and some steel storage racks in the warehouse. The driver called paramedics, but the deceased died in hospital from his injuries.

HSE's investigation identified a number of failings which included:

• no risk assessment of this work

• no safe system in place for reversing HGVs

• workers had never received any training

In yet another similar accident, thankfully not fatal but where the worker sustained very serious injuries, a council worker was crushed at a waste facility in London. An Enfield Council employee, was working at the London Energy Ltd transfer station in Edmonton, London, when a shovel loader reversed into him. The 58-year-old had been closing the tailgate on his tractor after tipping waste into a nearby bay, when the vehicle reversed without realising he was there and crushed him between both vehicles.

The company was undergoing major construction work and the area where the incident occurred was a temporary unit. An investigation by the HSE found the work was not suitably risk assessed and appropriate control measures were not implemented.

The investigation also found the company had also failed to implement suitable controls to segregate pedestrians and vehicles for which detailed guidance is available. Where vehicles and pedestrians share a traffic route there must be enough separation between them. This can normally be achieved through the use of physical barriers and safe systems of work.

London Energy Ltd pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. The company was fined £400,000 at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on 27 June 2025.

Forbes comment:

From my own experience of representing a public sector client when a driver of a reversing refuse vehicle faced criminal charges and the council faced scrutiny at an inquest and faced a subsequent civil claim ,  reversing refuse vehicles pose a high risk activity with the need to ensure that suitable and adequate control measures are implemented.  Recently published HSE statistics for 2024/25, note that there had been 14 fatal accidents arising from being struck by a moving vehicle.  In addition, the waste and recycling industry accounted for 3 fatal deaths in the 2024/25 period.   There is no doubt that has been better adherence to HSE guidance over the years by organisations to minimise and reduce the risk of harm within the industry. 

However, “the key to reducing transport accidents in these environments is to ensure there is adequate segregation between pedestrians and moving transport/plant,” in addition to many other safe operating control measures that could be implemented.