Why your yards health and safety might be your business’s biggest liability – and what to do about it

It’s just a yard… until it costs you £400,000.

You might not think twice about your yard or car park health and safety, until someone slips, a forklift hits a pedestrian, or a visiting customer ends up in hospital.

Sound dramatic? It’s not. These are real scenarios happening across UK sites right now, and the financial, operational, and legal consequences are very real.

At PKB Civils, we work with businesses in logistics, ports, recycling, and manufacturing. We see it all. Too often, legal responsibilities around yard safety get overlooked. Not because businesses don’t care, but because the risks are hard to spot until it’s too late.

This article is about helping you avoid that. No scaremongering, just clear, practical insight from our team on how to keep your premises safe, compliant, and operational.

 

The legal bit (without the legalese)

 

Let’s start with what the law actually says.

As an employer or business owner, you have a legal duty under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 to ensure the safety of employees and visitors on your premises, this includes all outside areas.

The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 and the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 make it clear: you need to keep external areas in a safe condition. That means walkways, yards, loading bays, car parks, and access routes must be maintained and free of hazards.

Failure to comply doesn’t just risk fines, it can lead to serious legal action, operational disruption, reputational damage, and in the worst cases, loss of life.

 

The data doesn’t lie

 

According to the HSE, 138 workers and 87 members of the public lost their lives in work-related accidents in 2023/24. A huge number of these happened outside, in car parks, yards, or loading areas.

The top three causes?

• Slips, trips and falls: 32% of all non-fatal injuries
• Struck by moving vehicle: 52% of deaths in waste and recycling
• Poor visibility and weather-related hazards: spiking injury rates during winterThe Critical Importance…

In one case, FloPlast Limited was fined £400,000 after a worker was seriously injured by a forklift truck. The HSE found multiple failings: no pedestrian walkways, no visibility checks on vehicles, and no compliance monitoring.

Another UK business, Hawkins Logistics, was fined £866,000 after a fatal yard accident exposed what investigators called a “poor safety culture.

That’s over £1.2 million in fines between two firms, and both incidents could have been prevented with basic planning and maintenance.

 

Ben’s Take… “If you think yard maintenance is optional, think again.”

 

“At PKB, we don’t just dig holes or resurface yards, we help keep businesses running and people safe. You wouldn’t ignore a leaking roof or faulty electrics inside your building. Your external areas deserve the same attention.

A cracked yard surface isn’t just an eyesore, it’s a lawsuit waiting to happen. Poor drainage leads to pooling water and icy patches. No pedestrian segregation? That’s a serious incident in the making.”

 

So… what does good look like?

 

Here’s our quick checklist for legally sound, low-risk external areas:

✅ Defined pedestrian walkways: Clear, separate, and visible, especially in shared zones
✅ One-way traffic systems: For vehicles, where possible
✅ High-risk area upgrades first: Loading bays, staff walkways, customer access points
✅ Surface repairs and drainage: Address cracks, potholes, pooling water
✅ Regular safety inspections: Schedule them. Action them. Log them.
✅ Lighting and signage: Especially in winter or 24/7 operations
✅ Staff training: Everyone should know the risks and how to report issues
✅ Works planning: Maintenance without disruption (yes, it’s possible, we do it every week)

 

Industry insight: Who’s at risk?

 

Every sector has different challenges, but here’s where we see the biggest risks:

• Ports and Logistics – Tight vehicle movements, high traffic, complex operations. Without clear systems, things go wrong, fast.
• Waste and Recycling – This sector has a fatality rate 9.1 times higher than the national average. Forklifts, uneven surfaces, and slippery conditions are a deadly mix.
• Industrial Manufacturing – Think the FloPlast case. When yards are poorly marked and under-maintained, even routine tasks like collecting materials become high risk.

What’s the cost of doing nothing?

 

Let’s say you ignore a cracked yard or a blocked drain.

Best case? It gets worse and costs more to fix later. Worst case? A slip turns into a serious injury claim. Or an HSE visit. Or court.

Here’s what “doing nothing” looks like:

• Legal costs and compensation claims
• HSE investigations and improvement notices
• Operational shutdowns during investigations or works
• Staff absence and low morale
• Damaged customer reputation
• Loss of contracts or insurance complications

And of course, it was all avoidable. 

 

The slow slide from “fine” to failure – a one minute case study

 

It’s not always a major incident that flags a problem, it’s the slow, quiet build-up of minor issues that go unaddressed.

One recent site visit highlighted just how easily this happens. A large distribution yard in Gatwick was surveyed around a year ago. A full assessment was carried out—concrete repairs, drainage, walkways, car park surfacing, and a phased plan was put together so the business could tackle it gradually.

But nothing was actioned.

Twelve months later, after a visit from the company’s own health and safety team, the issues have worsened. The drains are now blocked. Surface cracks have spread. The condition of the yard has become more than just unsightly, it’s now raising compliance concerns.

Rather than implementing the original plan, the site manager has requested a few smaller, reactive fixes to get things over the line in the short term. Understandable from a budget approval perspective. But here’s the problem: patchwork repairs often lead to more problems, not fewer.

Every new joint or edge becomes a point of weakness. And without addressing the root causes, like drainage, load stress, or poor traffic segregation, those quick fixes don’t last.

 

Practical tips to get ahead of the law

 

You don’t need to become a health and safety officer, but you do need a system. Here’s where to start:

🔹 Walk your yard once a month. Do it with fresh eyes. Ask: would you feel safe here as a visitor?

🔹 Create a hazard log. Keep it simple: surface damage, drainage, lighting, signage, segregation. Note it. Fix it.

🔹 Review traffic routes. Look at where forklifts or HGVs cross paths with pedestrians. Redesign if needed.

🔹 Use your quiet periods. If you know July is slow, plan works for then—not during peak Christmas stock movements.

🔹 Bring in experts. We work with clients to phase works, minimise disruption, and prioritise the biggest risks.

 

Final thoughts from Ben

 

“I’m seeing more and more businesses taking reactive steps when a proactive plan would have saved them thousands. And not just money – reputation, operations, safety.

Most maintenance issues don’t come from neglect, they come from delay. The job’s known, the risks are visible, but other priorities push it down the list.

It’s often not until a serious incident, insurance audit, or HSE visit that the full cost of inaction becomes clear.

But the good news? It’s fixable. A solid survey, a phased plan, and a structured approach can get things back under control—without shutting down your operation.