Centrewest London Buses Ltd was fined £400,000 after one of its drivers was crushed to death between two buses. The incident occurred in a garage that was housing almost twice as many vehicles that it was designed to hold.

The court heard that Robert Cherry, 59, had just finished making routine checks to his vehicle and was talking to colleagues. He stepped in between two parked buses and one of the buses suddenly lurched backwards, trapping Mr Cherry against the rear vehicle. He died at the scene.

The HSE investigation revealed that traffic management at the station was poor. The garage was designed to hold a maximum of 65 buses, but on the morning of the accident it was holding 119. Additionally, the bus that struck Mr Cherry had a defective gear selector, which might have caused the wrong gear to be indicated to the driver. The bus company was found guilty of breaching section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.

 Bill Hazleton, HSE Inspector, said: “Robert Cherry died because his employer did not do enough to ensure his safety or that of his colleagues. He was a much loved family member who was killed while going about his daily work. Like so many workplace accidents, this one was entirely preventable and should never have happened. The company’s traffic management system was poor and its processes for maintaining vehicles and for identifying and repairing defects were inadequate”.