Wednesday, December 30, 2009
What is going wrong in your garage?
Along with my workmates we are wondering just what is going wrong at our depot? I have lost faith with our garage staff as many coaches are parked in the workshop, just sitting there waiting, waiting to be repaired. The fitters never seem to start and finish a job on the same day. Coaches are left in the workshop overnight with bits hanging off. Many driver reported defects are still not being resolved. The drivers have just given up all hope of things getting any better. Some drivers are looking to find work elsewhere for other bus and coach operators. I have driven buses and coaches for over 28 years and I tell the other drivers not to abandon ship, because the grass is never greener on the other side. Our industry is obsessed with cutting costs and I think that whichever operator you work for, you will have the same problems from cost cutting and poor vehicle maintenance. It makes no difference whether you are working for a small family firm or for one of the big boys.
To put this all into perspective, let's look at the recent court case involving the mighty First Group. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecuted Centrewest London Buses Ltd - part of the First Group based at Macmillan House, Paddington Station in Westminster - for safety failings leading up to the incident on 18 May 2004. The company pleaded guilty of breaching section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 on 16 December, at Southwark Crown Court. Centrewest London Buses Ltd was fined £400,000. Costs are yet to be determined at a separate hearing.
The court heard that Robert Cherry, 59, from Ruislip, was preparing one of the buses at the station in Uxbridge Bus Garage in Bakers Court. As he stepped in between two parked buses, the front bus lurched backwards, crushing him against the rear, stationary vehicle. He died at the scene. The HSE investigation showed that traffic management at the garage was poor, particularly when buses left the garage at the start of the working day. The garage had originally been designed to hold 65 buses, but at the time of Mr Cherry's death it was the base for 119 vehicles. The garage was not well lit and drivers carrying out checks were forced to walk between closely parked buses that were manoeuvring to leave the garage.
The bus that struck Mr Cherry also had a defective gear selector that may have meant it was in a different gear to that indicated in the driver's cab. Checks carried out on similar buses after Mr Cherry's death revealed that four others based at Uxbridge had similar problems. A check at the company's other garages in London showed that 10 out of 60 buses were significantly faulty and a further 30 per cent suffered from more minor faults.
HSE inspector, Bill Hazleton 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."
...So there you have it and I believe this culture of cost cutting is a nationwide problem, not just a problem that happened at a bus garage in Uxbridge. I do not believe our industry has moved on since 2004 and I urge any of our drivers reading this not to abandon ship because the grass is not greener on the other side.
I expect Graham will comment in the box below!
Along with my workmates we are wondering just what is going wrong at our depot? I have lost faith with our garage staff as many coaches are parked in the workshop, just sitting there waiting, waiting to be repaired. The fitters never seem to start and finish a job on the same day. Coaches are left in the workshop overnight with bits hanging off. Many driver reported defects are still not being resolved. The drivers have just given up all hope of things getting any better. Some drivers are looking to find work elsewhere for other bus and coach operators. I have driven buses and coaches for over 28 years and I tell the other drivers not to abandon ship, because the grass is never greener on the other side. Our industry is obsessed with cutting costs and I think that whichever operator you work for, you will have the same problems from cost cutting and poor vehicle maintenance. It makes no difference whether you are working for a small family firm or for one of the big boys.
To put this all into perspective, let's look at the recent court case involving the mighty First Group. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecuted Centrewest London Buses Ltd - part of the First Group based at Macmillan House, Paddington Station in Westminster - for safety failings leading up to the incident on 18 May 2004. The company pleaded guilty of breaching section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 on 16 December, at Southwark Crown Court. Centrewest London Buses Ltd was fined £400,000. Costs are yet to be determined at a separate hearing.
The court heard that Robert Cherry, 59, from Ruislip, was preparing one of the buses at the station in Uxbridge Bus Garage in Bakers Court. As he stepped in between two parked buses, the front bus lurched backwards, crushing him against the rear, stationary vehicle. He died at the scene. The HSE investigation showed that traffic management at the garage was poor, particularly when buses left the garage at the start of the working day. The garage had originally been designed to hold 65 buses, but at the time of Mr Cherry's death it was the base for 119 vehicles. The garage was not well lit and drivers carrying out checks were forced to walk between closely parked buses that were manoeuvring to leave the garage.
The bus that struck Mr Cherry also had a defective gear selector that may have meant it was in a different gear to that indicated in the driver's cab. Checks carried out on similar buses after Mr Cherry's death revealed that four others based at Uxbridge had similar problems. A check at the company's other garages in London showed that 10 out of 60 buses were significantly faulty and a further 30 per cent suffered from more minor faults.
HSE inspector, Bill Hazleton 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."
...So there you have it and I believe this culture of cost cutting is a nationwide problem, not just a problem that happened at a bus garage in Uxbridge. I do not believe our industry has moved on since 2004 and I urge any of our drivers reading this not to abandon ship because the grass is not greener on the other side.
I expect Graham will comment in the box below!
Comments:
<< Home
I sure will!
In my experience, it's very rare for a bus +/or coach company to cut costs to the degree that safety is directly compromised. It may occasionally or unwittingly happen, but overwhelmingly the cost-cutting takes place through in-action of long-term defects that do not negate the mechanical (and legal) workings of the vehicles in question.
Luckily, Centrewest's fatality was a one-off within First and incidents of this type of accident are very rare, though do happen. Didn't Eastbourne Buses have something similar before their purchase by Stagecoach?
Unfortunately though, £400,000 - as fined by the HSE to First Centrwest - is an infinitesimal drop in the proverbial ocean to the UK's largest transport operator. It's more a show of intent; after all, it's got people blogging about the practices by First back in 2004!!
Cost-cutting is more prevalent now we're in a recession, so if you thought your air conditioning unit would undergo its annual service, I'd think again. It'll be done - if you're lucky - when it fails, usually in the summer when it's 30C+ in the shade.
I'd argue that smaller companies probably conform better, but would agree that this needless prudency extends up and down the industry.
From a passenger's point of view, you're not bothered about the ethics or trials and tribulations at the local depot, you just want a bus or coach to turn up at the advertised time, be driven well and to be able to feel a change in temperature from within when it's -4C outside.
Sadly, on all of these counts, passengers' mediocre expectations are not always met!
Post a Comment
In my experience, it's very rare for a bus +/or coach company to cut costs to the degree that safety is directly compromised. It may occasionally or unwittingly happen, but overwhelmingly the cost-cutting takes place through in-action of long-term defects that do not negate the mechanical (and legal) workings of the vehicles in question.
Luckily, Centrewest's fatality was a one-off within First and incidents of this type of accident are very rare, though do happen. Didn't Eastbourne Buses have something similar before their purchase by Stagecoach?
Unfortunately though, £400,000 - as fined by the HSE to First Centrwest - is an infinitesimal drop in the proverbial ocean to the UK's largest transport operator. It's more a show of intent; after all, it's got people blogging about the practices by First back in 2004!!
Cost-cutting is more prevalent now we're in a recession, so if you thought your air conditioning unit would undergo its annual service, I'd think again. It'll be done - if you're lucky - when it fails, usually in the summer when it's 30C+ in the shade.
I'd argue that smaller companies probably conform better, but would agree that this needless prudency extends up and down the industry.
From a passenger's point of view, you're not bothered about the ethics or trials and tribulations at the local depot, you just want a bus or coach to turn up at the advertised time, be driven well and to be able to feel a change in temperature from within when it's -4C outside.
Sadly, on all of these counts, passengers' mediocre expectations are not always met!
# posted by 
: 2 January 2010 at 21:45
: 2 January 2010 at 21:45Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home
Subscribe to Posts [Atom]