Concerns over injuries at Sackers in Great Blakenham

A Freedom of Information request to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) by this newspaper found that Sackers in Great Blakenham, near Ipswich, saw 10 injuries between January 2020 and January 2025. 

Meanwhile, statistics previously published by HSE show that the average non-fatal work-related injury rate at waste sites with 100 people - about the same number as Sackers employs - is 3.6 over five years (data for the period between 2018 and 2023).

This means the site has seen nearly triple the average rate of injury for waste sites in the UK. 

Injury rates at Sackers are more than three times the average UK rate. (Image: HSE)

Sackers is a waste-management centre in Great Blakenham, near Ipswich. (Image: Lucy Taylor) The data also shows that eight of the incidents at Sackers caused a person to be off work for more than seven days.

HSE explained of those, five people sustained broken bones, one by a fall from height, two from lifting and handling, one from a slip or fall and one from another kind of accident and involved fractures to the limb, foot and fingers. 

Meanwhile, lacerations and open wounds to the fingers and a person being struck in the face by an object were other causes of injury. 

In one instance, a person was struck by an object and forced off work, but the area of the body damaged was not recorded. 

In another case, a person sprained their ankle by slipping, while another sprained their foot through a fall. 

One person was also reported as having hand and arm vibration syndrome, which causes numbness and pain, and another reported carpal tunnel syndrome, a similar condition which can weaken the hand and affect motor skills. 

Four of the cases also involved people who were not employed by the company.

The site was the location of a serious fire in 2024. (Image: OBD Photography) Concerns were also raised about health and safety issues at the site following three large fires breaking out between 2023 and 2024, including one in which smoke could be seen as far away as Felixstowe and Bury St Edmunds.

Another fire also took place this year on June 18 with crews from Ipswich East, Princes Street and Needham Market being called to the site. 

Chris Chambers, Suffolk County councillor for Gipping Valley, which includes Great Blakenham, expressed his concern over the number of incidents at Sackers over the timeframe.

He said: "These reports of injuries are really concerning and show the importance of health and safety.

Suffolk County Councillor Chris Chambers (Image: Suffolk County Council) "We know that the Environment Agency, the regulators of Sackers, have inspected them two or three times this year, which makes them one of the most inspected sites of its kind."

Sackers was contacted for a comment, but did not respond.