Bus company fined for death of driver

Dec 23 2009 By Siba Matti

A BUS company has been fined £400,000 after a driver was crushed to death between two seven-tonne buses.

Robert Cherry, 59, of Breakspear Road, Ruislip, died from massive pelvic injuries at Uxbridge Bus Garage in Bakers Road – a depot belonging Centrewest London, part of the First UK group – on May 18, 2004.

The grandfather-of-four had been collecting a can of water to top up his vehicle's engine when the gear stick of the bus in front slipped, and it reversed into him.

Mr Cherry was pinned between the first bus and one behind him, which in turn was thrown back into a third vehicle, such was the power of the impact.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found the bus which struck Mr Cherry had a defective gear selector, meaning it was in a different gear to that indicated to the driver. Checks found four other buses at Uxbridge had similar problems.

The garage was designed to hold 65 buses but at the time of Mr Cherry's death, 119 buses were based there.

During a hearing at Southwark Crown Court, other colleagues told how buses were squeezed so tightly into the depot that they had to enter via the emergency doors and walk sideways to squeeze between them.

Others were parked on the street overnight because there was not enough room for them all.

Traffic management at the garage was also found to be poor, particularly when buses left in the mornings.

Last Wednesday, December 16, a jury unanimously decided that Centre West Buses had breached its health and safety obligations to Mr Cherry. The company received the fine last Friday and costs will be determined at a separate hearing.

HSE inspector, Bill Hazleton said: Robert Cherry died because his employer did not do enough to ensure his safety or that of his colleagues.

"Like so many work place accidents, this was entirely preventable and should never have happened."

Adrian Jones, managing director of First CentreWest, said: "We would again like to express our condolences to the family, friends and work colleagues of Robert Cherry and our sadness at his tragic death.

"The safety and security of our staff and our passengers is our highest priority. We continue to work hard to embed a rigorous culture of safety throughout the company and to ensure our workplaces are safe to the highest industry standards."

Did you know Mr Cherry? Were you one of his colleagues? Email Gazette reporter Siba Matti at sibamatti@trinitysouth.co.uk.