GHA Coaches fined £250,000 for safety failings

[northwichcat]

A coach company in Wrexham has been fined £250,000 after it repeatedly failed to comply with legal notices to get its lifting equipment examined.

Wrexham Magistrates’ Court heard that, between 4 April 2014 and 28 August 2015, GHA Coaches Limited failed to have its lifting equipment thoroughly examined within the required timescales to ensure that health and safety conditions were maintained and that any deterioration could be detected and remedied in good time.

In 2015, an inspection revealed overdue Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations (LOLER) examinations on at least 14 items. An improvement notice was served, and extended twice, and still resulted in a failure to comply.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that a previous improvement notice was served in 2011.

GHA Coaches Limited, of Vauxhall Industrial Estate, Ruabon, Wrexham, pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 9(3)(a)(ii) of the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 (LOLER),and failing to comply with an Improvement Notice, and was fined a total of £250,000 and ordered to pay costs of £3,068.

http://press.hse.gov.uk/2016/company-fined-for-safety-failings-3/

It does seem like GHA Coaches need a management shake up as they generally seem to be a poorly managed operation at the moment. The current operations manager is ex-Yourbus and left shortly after VOSA discovered Yourbus drivers were incorrectly using tachograph equipment which management instructed them to do: http://www.railforums.co.uk/showthread.php?t=127009

 

[83G/84D]

Inquiry into GHA Coaches directors' role in other bus firms

A public inquiry will investigate what involvement two former directors of a collapsed coach firm had in two other companies.
GHA Coaches, based in Ruabon, Wrexham, went into administration in July with the loss of 320 jobs after failing to pay a tax bill.
Gareth and Arwyn Lloyd Davies were later disqualified from holding public transport operator licences.
A new inquiry will look at their involvement in two Shropshire firms.
It will investigate whether they are still involved in RJs, of Wem, and RML 2418 Ltd and it will consider a report from the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency, which has been investigating driver working hours and whether vehicles were roadworthy.
The hearing will take place in Birmingham on 5 December.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-north-east-wales-38069889