Bus firm criticised after Black Country mechanic crushed to death
The failings of a bus company 'contributed significantly' to the death of a mechanic working at a depot in the Black Country, investigators have said.
The Health and Safety Executive said it welcomed the safety measures which had been introduced by West Midlands Travel after an accident in Walsall.
Lee Baker, aged 24, of Churchill Road, Bentley, never regained consciousness after being crushed between two buses in Carl Street in the early hours of October 22, 2011.
Mr Baker, who left behind a daughter Katie, now aged three, suffered brain damage and died almost four months later at Walsall Manor Hospital.
West Midlands Travel was last week fined £150,000 and ordered to pay just over £35,000 in costs at Wolverhampton Crown Court.
HSE inspector Eve-Marie Edwards said: "This was a dreadful tragedy and was devastating to Lee Baker's family. It is clear that he 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 it to happen."
It happened as he attempted to push a double decker bus.The circumstances of the accident were Mr Baker was attempting to move the bus to get access to a pit, but the reverse gear wouldn't work.
He went into the cab of the bus and intended to put the gearbox in neutral but inadvertently left it in drive. After getting off the parking brake automatically disengaged after three seconds and rolled forward.
A colleague Simon Clarke jumped out of the way but Mr Baker, not realising it was in drive gear, tried to push it back but was crushed between the double decker and a single bus.
Mr David Travers QC, defending, said safety measures had been introduced including almost £500,000 on tugs and there were new safety packs.
The firm accepted two charges of not ensuring the safety of its workers by failing to ensure they were supervised adequately and failing to perform a suitable and sufficient assessment of risks to its workers, including Mr Baker and Mr Clarke, during the movement of vehicles not under their own power.
National Express West Midlands is the trading name of West Midlands Travel Limited.
