Arriva company fined after fatal reversing accident

An Arriva company and its cleaning firm have been fined after a man was killed after being hit by a reversing vehicle at the depot where he worked,, the Health and Safety Executive has reported.

Albin Trstena, 25, from Tottenham was hit by a reversing bus driven by a colleague at an Arriva depot in Hemel Hempstead on 5 November 2019 while working for cleaning company Cordant Cleaning Limited, now in administration. He sustained fatal injuries.

An investigation by 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.

At St Albans Magistrates’ Court, C.L.C Realisations Limited was found guilty of breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and fined £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.

Albin’s sister Albina said in a statement read out in court: “When we received the news Albin had died, we were left devastated and our whole world came crashing down around us,” she said. “His presence at home was so alive.”

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.”