A Devon company has been fined after a man was seriously injured by a reversing vehicle at a recycling centre in Exeter.

Exeter Magistrates' court heard that Leases Limited hired the telehandler in September 2012, but did not have it fitted with a reversing camera. This failure to ensure that the driver’s direct field of vision was adequate seriously compromised safety.


On 4 October Marvon Van Rijk and four other pedestrian workers were sorting through recycling waste at the company’s site at Matford Business Park in Exeter when he was hit by the reversing telehandler. He suffered serious and life threatening leg injuries, requiring immediate emergency surgery and ongoing surgical treatment.

Leases Limited were prosecuted following an almost identical incident at the same site in October 2011.

Leases Limited of 14 Oak Tree Place, Manaton Close, Matford Business Park, Exeter pleaded guilty to beaching Regulation 28(e) of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998. They were fined £33,000 and ordered to pay £13,389 in costs.

(CD/IT)