A national bus company and a commercial cleaning firm have been fined after a “much loved young man” was killed at a depot in Hemel Hempstead.
Albin Trstena, from Tottenham, was working for Cordant Cleaning Limited, when he was hit by a reversing bus being driven by a colleague on 5 November 2019.
The 25-year-old had been working in the yard of Arriva’s Hemel Hempstead bus depot when the vehicle was reversed out of the wash down area. He sustained fatal injuries.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that Arriva failed to properly assess the risk of vehicle-pedestrian conflict, and both they and Cordant Cleaning Limited, subsequently known as C.L.C Realisations Limited, failed to implement a suitable system of work to control this risk.
There were also insufficient measures in place to protect pedestrians from vehicles being moved around the depot and to ensure that walkways within the perimeter of the yard were being utilised.
C.L.C Realisations Limited of Wellington Street, Leeds (in administration) offered no plea but was found guilty of breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and fined a nominal £1,000.
Arriva Kent Thameside Limited, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and have been fined £32,000 and ordered to pay costs of £22,392.
HSE Inspector Roxanne Barker said: “This tragic incident led to the avoidable death of a much loved young man.
“There was a failure to undertake safety measures to segregate vehicles and pedestrians.
“They also failed to properly consider who was responsible for determining and implementing suitable measures to ensure safe working practices when contracting out some of the activities performed within a shared workplace.”
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