Regional bus operator West Midlands Travel, a subsidiary of the National Express Group, has been sentenced following the death of a 24-year-old mechanic who was crushed between two buses. He died three-and-a-half months later having never regained consciousness.
Lee Baker, an assistant mechanic from Walsall who had a 20-month-old daughter, was working a night shift at the company’s depot in Carl Street, Walsall, when the incident happened in the early hours of Saturday 22 October 2011.
Wolverhampton Crown Court heard that he was attempting to move a double-decker bus to get access to a pit, but the reverse gear wouldn’t work. He and a colleague attempted to push it backwards to get it past a single-decker parked ten feet away and sideways on to the double-decker.
Mr Baker, who had worked with the company since 2006, went into the cab of the bus, which has an automatic safety device engaging the parking brake when the doors are open. He intended to put the gearbox in neutral but inadvertently left it in drive.
As a result, when he got off and closed the doors, the parking brake automatically disengaged after three seconds and the bus moved towards the two men who were then in front of the bus ready to push. Although his colleague managed to jump out of the way, Mr Baker didn’t and was crushed between the two vehicles.
An HSE investigation found that:
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there was no supervisor on duty at the time of the incident;
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West Midlands Travel had failed to perform a suitable assessment of the risks inherent in moving buses manually;
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employees had not been trained in a safe system of work for moving buses not under their own power and the company had allowed the practice of workers pushing them during the night shifts;
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the company had a recovery agency to tow broken down vehicles both to the depot and within it, but prior to the incident only supervisors had been briefed in relation to calling them out; and
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the lack of both a clear, safe system of work and a supervisor had led to Mr Baker attempting to devise his own way of dealing with a problem that was preventing him from getting on with his work.
West Midlands Travel Ltd, which employs 5,000 and runs 1,500 buses a day in the region, had earlier pleaded guilty to one breach of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 and a separate offence under the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. The company, of Bordesley Green, Birmingham was fined a total of £150,000 and ordered to pay costs of £35,119.
Speaking after the hearing, HSE inspector Eve-Marie Edwards said: “This was a dreadful tragedy and was devastating to Lee Baker’s family. It is clear that the failings of West Midlands Travel contributed significantly to this young man’s death.
“There was no supervisor on duty to advise Mr Baker or to ensure that no attempts were made to move a bus without somebody at the wheel, or advise him to call the recovery agency to move it.
“The company has since introduced a number of safety measures to prevent a recurrence. It is a pity a young man, who should have had his whole life ahead of him, had to die in what was an avoidable incident for that to happen.”
Mr Baker’s partner Donna Perigo said: “Nothing will ever bring Lee back. My main aim has always been to prevent something like this happening again. I do not want anyone else to be in the position that I’m in now — in tragic circumstances that could have been prevented.”
In a statement, National Express West Midlands said: “Our thoughts are with Lee Baker’s family on what has been another difficult day for them. We respect the judge’s decision in this case and the fine awarded. We also welcome his comments on our excellent safety record as a major employer. “
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