The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has prosecuted Southwark Council after a disabled pensioner was killed when his motorised scooter was dropped from the tail lift of coach it was being loaded onto.

In September 2006, a group from the council-run Aylesbury Day Centre attended an exhibition at Alexandra Palace in Wood Green, London.

On their return home, William Delaney, 67, from Southwark – who used a motorised scooter – was being lifted onto the bus in the car park, when his scooter fell off the back of the tail lift and plunged to the ground. Mr Delaney sustained head injuries in the fall, from which he died.

On Wednesday (14/10/09) at the City of London Magistrates’ Court, Southwark Council of Peckham Road, London pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. The council was fined £20,000 and ordered to pay £4,466 costs.

The HSE investigation found that Mr Delaney’s scooter did not fit on the tail lift and as a result, the tailgate plates – a safety feature which could have prevented the mobility scooter from falling off – did not lock into position.

The HSE also found there had been no risk assessment or procedure covering the loading and unloading of people with motorised scooters.

In 2005, the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency had warned service providers of similar risks involving wheelchairs, following a number of fatal accidents in the UK. The advice included the simple measure of loading motorised scooters onto transport without the passenger sitting on it to prevent accidents.

After the hearing, HSE inspector Zameer Bhunnoo said that if all basic health and safety measures had been carried out, ‘this loss of life could have been prevented’.                                            

‘A suitable risk assessment and safe procedure should have been drawn up covering the loading and unloading of people who use motorised scooters, who are loaded on and off welfare buses,’ said Mr Bhunnoo. 

‘Southwark Council failed in its duty by exposing motorised scooter users to such obvious risks,’ he added.

‘A safety alert in 2005 highlighted similar risks involving wheelchairs and highlighted the need for safe procedures. This should have prompted a complete review of loading operations involving the tail lift and included motorised scooters, but this did not happen.

‘HSE will not hesitate to use the full force of its enforcement powers in such circumstances,’ Mr Bhunnoo warned.

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