In June 2023, Daniel Ames, a director at textile manufacturer The British Millerain Company, stayed late to assist with a delivery. With no formal training or risk assessments in place, he agreed to act as a banksman to help the driver reverse an HGV into the warehouse. During the manoeuvre, the driver lost sight of Ames. Moments later, Daniel was found trapped between the vehicle and steel racking. He later died in hospital from his injuries.
The HSE investigation revealed a critical absence of a safe reversing system. Despite staff admitting to regularly carrying out similar tasks, no one had ever received banksman training. Following Daniel's death, the company finally introduced a safe system of work—banning the use of banksmen and removing reversing from the warehouse. They were fined £220,000.
The second case, just as harrowing, involved Bestway Northern Limited, a wholesale grocery supplier. In February 2019, Lee Warburton, a 53-year-old father of three, was crushed while directing a delivery vehicle into a tight unloading area. As with the previous case, the HSE found that Bestway had no safe system of work and had failed to adequately assess the risk involved in reversing HGVs. The company was fined £1 million.
In both incidents, well-intentioned staff stepped up to help. But without training, risk assessments, or modern reversing safety systems in place, the consequences were fatal.
At Dr Air Brake, we believe that tragedies like these should no longer be viewed as “accidents”—because they are, in truth, preventable.
That’s why we developed Reverse Smart.
Reverse Smart is an automatic, fail-safe reversing safety system designed to eliminate the risk of person–vehicle collisions. Using intelligent sensors, it detects any person behind the vehicle while reversing. If a presence is detected, the system automatically applies the brakes—bringing the vehicle to a full stop before contact can occur. No guesswork. No assumptions. No chance.
It takes the burden off drivers, eliminates reliance on untrained staff, and removes unnecessary danger from environments where people and HGVs should never intersect without robust safety protocols in place.
It’s time we stop relying on high-vis jackets and a wave of the hand. As the cost of inaction continues to grow—not only in financial penalties but in human life—investment in reversing technology must become a non-negotiable standard.
We owe it to Daniel. We owe it to Lee.
More importantly, we owe it to everyone still out there working behind heavy vehicles today.
