Throughout October, as we headed towards winter, there were again many great examples of HATS people going above and beyond, however, there was one specific event that stood out from the rest, exemplifying the behaviours that so many of our HATS people display ‘day in, day out’.

When a lady cyclist was knocked off her bicycle in a head on collision with a motor vehicle, outside of our depot in Elkstone Road, W10, three HATS individuals immediately rose to the challenge.  Having heard the noise of the braking vehicle and subsequent screams and shouts, Mohammed Omar (Training Officer), David Kavanagh (Fleet Vehicle Technician) and Robert Andrew (H2S Fleet Advisor) rushed outside to investigate. Upon seeing the lady laying prostrate in the middle of the road Mohammed, who is our First Aid Training Officer quickly rushed over to make sure that she was Ok, supporting her and if required administer First Aid until the Ambulance arrived.

As a result of the accident and the confusion it caused, the traffic ‘ground to a halt’, so David and Robert immediately used their initiative and took control of traffic management until the Police arrived: Robert up at the roundabout at the top end of the road, stopping vehicles from coming down the street and David, on the other side of the collision, advising motorists of what was happening and why the road was blocked.

Thankfully, the lady cyclist has made a full recovery.

All three individuals displayed remarkable levels of calmness, professionalism and authoritativeness in what was a tremendously stressful situation, putting the safety of others before themselves – evident in the way they took control of the bystanders, the traffic and assisted and advised the motorists of what was happening and why the road was closed until the Police arrived.