20.11.2017

Bus strikes platform

A man was badly injured in the UK on Friday, when a double decker bus struck the platform of the van mounted lift he was working from, breaking the platform away from the boom.

The incident occurred in Axminster, Devon, while the man was working on a light at a height of between five and six metres. It looks as though the platform had been properly cordoned off and out of the open road lane, but we can only assume that the operator had slewed the platform over the open traffic lane and the bus driver did not see it? The impact was sufficient to rip the fibreglass bucket off the boom, sending it to the ground below. Miraculously the man escaped with just a badly fractured arm. The bus was hardly damaged, and no one on board was hurt.
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The scene on Friday, with the bus still at the scene

A statement from the local police said: "A worker has fallen from a cherry picker in West Street, Axminster outside the Post Office. A bus has collided with a cherry picker, causing the man to fall out and down to the floor. Ambulance and fire are on scene, and the Health and Safety Executive has been informed."

A spokesperson for bus operator First Group added: “We immediately activated our standard incident procedures and dispatched a team to support the emergency services with their enquiries and start our own full investigation to understand how this could have happened. We hope the injured party makes a swift and full recovery.”

Vertikal Comment

Once again an incident demonstrates the risks of working alongside an open traffic lane. Thankfully this particular incident was not fatal, as it so easily could have been.