Jordan Campion, from Burnley, was working for Sheridan Skips Burnley Limited at its site in Smiths Yard, Clifton Street when he suffered life-changing injuries when run into by a telescopic handler on 12th March 2024.
Campion, 19 at the time, was sorting and separating waste material by hand with three colleagues; in the same yard another employee was operating a telehandler. Campion was standing against a brick wall at the side of the yard when the telehandler reversed into him, crushing him against the wall.
Campion suffered multiple fractures, nerve damage to his right arm and internal organ injuries. He also lost partial hearing in his right ear and developed a blood clot that caused optical damage to his right eye, resulting in permanent sight loss in that eye. He was in hospital for nearly two weeks.
An investigation by the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) found that Campion and other employees frequently worked in the yard while vehicles operated alongside them. Sheridan Skips Burnley had not undertaken a suitable and sufficient assessment of the risks and failed to provide adequate measures for the safe segregation of vehicles and pedestrians. There was no physical protection from vehicle movement, which regularly put employees in considerable danger.
The investigation also found that the telehandler operator could not see clearly while reversing, as the machine was missing mirrors to aid reversing 鈥� a deficiency the company had failed to address.
Sheridan Skips Burnley Limited, of Cathedral Gates, Manchester, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. The company was fined 拢24,000 and ordered to pay 拢4,777 in costs at Blackburn Magistrates鈥� Court on Wednesday 11th March 2026.
HSE inspector Anthony Banks said after the hearing: 鈥淭his young man鈥檚 injuries could so easily have been avoided with the implementation of safe working practices, including pedestrian and vehicle segregation and safe refuges for workers whilst vehicles were operating. These measures would have ensured that workers present in the yard were not put at risk of being struck by vehicles moving in and around where they were working.
鈥淭his should serve as a reminder to businesses operating in the waste industry to ensure that workplace transport is appropriately considered, with control measures introduced to ensure the appropriate separation of vehicles and pedestrians.鈥�
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