A MAJOR waste and recycling firm has been fined £144,000 after a worker suffered a serious back injury at one of their East Lancashire sites.

Nadeem Akhtar, who had worked at the site operated by Suez, in Duckworth Clough, near Haslingden, was hurt while moving gantry steps leading to skips there, Preston Crown Court heard.

He felt a “sharp pain” in his back, while using old scaffolding poles to nudge the steps, which weighed up to a ton, back into position after a skip had been moved, the court was told.

Staff at the household waste centre had warned bosses that the practice, which was also carried out using trolley jacks on occasion, was risky.

But changes were not made until Mr Akhtar, who had worked there for 14 years, suffered prolapsed discs in his back, in September 2016.

Lawyers representing Suez, which is bidding to create a new recovery park in Darwen, pleaded guilty to an offence under the Health and Safety at Work Act and were also ordered to pay £32,000 court costs.

Passing sentence, Judge Philip Parry said: “This incident caused Mr Akhtar to suffer a flare-up of an existing back condition.”

He told the court the company had “abrogated their responsibilities” by not having a safe working method for moving the gantry steps in place.

Craig Morris, prosecuting on behalf of the Health and Safety Executive, said that several weeks before the incident affecting Mr Akhtar, the subject of moving the steps had been raised by team leader Susan Blanchflower.

She told management that on occasion it took several attempts to move the steps back into position and she was concerned about the method used.

Mr Morris said the advice came back that this was the only way of addressing the issue and drivers would be asked to co-operate in ensuring the steps were not displaced in future.

An injury had also been caused to a worker at one of their other sites in Skelmersdale, the court heard, though this had involved the steps falling onto someone’s foot.

James Ageros, representing Suez, said while there was no risk assessment for this practice, the company did provide extensive general manual handling guidance.

He told the court that contractors were now brought in, if the steps needed to be moved, and a loader crane would be deployed if required.