A court has fined a waste management company £270,000 after a worker was injured while cleaning a piece of machinery.
Stonegrave Aggregates, part of Pocklington-based Ashcourt Group, pleaded guilty to breaches of health and safety legislation in relation to an incident in March 2023.
An employee became trapped in a section of machinery when a waste picking line was accidentally switched on while it was being cleaned.
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found the company failed to ensure an isolation procedure was correctly implemented at the site at Aycliffe Quarry, County Durham.
The watchdog said a senior supervisor restarted the machinery after mistaking the worker in question for a colleague in similar clothing nearby.
The employee suffered a fractured shoulder, torn ligaments and a broken finger.
In December 2015, a worker was killed and another suffered life-changing injuries on a separate waste sorting line at the same site due to similar failures to follow proper isolation and lock-off procedures, the HSE said.
Stonegrave Aggregates was fined £270,000 for its failings related to the latest incident and ordered to pay costs of £15,637 at Teesside Crown Court.
Ashcourt Group has been contacted for comment.
