BIN lorries could steer clear of major events in Glasgow city centre as part of bolstered safety plans following the Queen Street tragedy.

Glasgow City Council will also train bin truck crews on driving controls and is set to improve health screening for new drivers, as part of changes called for following a Fatal Accident Inquiry.

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Six people were killed and 17 injured when a 26-tonne council bin lorry veered out of control in a busy Glasgow city centre, on December 22, 2014.

Driver Harry Clarke fainted at the wheel and the lorry mounted the pavement, killing and injuring Christmas shoppers.

At the end of the FAI into the crash, Sheriff John Beckett made a total of 19 recommendations to help prevent a similar crash.

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Of these, five were directed at Glasgow City Council, Mr Clarke's employers, and two at all local authorities in Scotland.

Glasgow City Council said it had already begun making some changes to safety and HR systems before the Sheriff's determination - the inquiry was told that large bin lorries had been removed from pedestrian areas after some people lashed out at the sight if them in the wake of the crash.

But the Evening Times has learned the full extent of the improvements, including some which are ongoing and have changed council procedures indefinitely.

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The FAI heard that the fact that a Christmas Fair was being held in the square on the day off the crash did not deter the driver from including the street in the collection route.

Sheriff Beckett asked councils for this to be "taken into account" and to identify routes to "minimise the number of people who would be at risk should control be lost of a refuse collection lorry".

Glasgow Times: Six people were killed in the Glasgow bin lorry crash in December

A spokesman for Glasgow City Council said that now, if a route change is thought to be the safest option, drivers "will use a different route or a different time".

This could apply to major events in the city or planned demonstrations.

The council is currently developing new "vehicle familiarisation" training for bin lorry crews on the controls in the cab - as also recommended by Sheriff Beckett.

Such training does not currently exist in the UK.

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Glasgow City Council is also said to be in the middle of a review on the "potential to improve screening for health problems as part of the recruitment process".

The sheriff called on the council not to employ anyone before a reference had been sought - the FAI heard Mr Clarke's reference from First Bus was missing from his HR file.

While HR managers are implementing this, there is an ongoing issue with some employers who fail to give references to departing workers.

A council spokesman said they are "reviewing how to approach such cases".

Sheriff Beckett said councils, when buying new bin lorries, should buy vehicles with Advanced Emergency Breaking Systems (AEBS) and have this system retrofitted where possible.

It is not possible to fit this system to the bin lorry involved in the tragedy, the FAI heard.

Glasgow City Council has not added any new vehicles to the fleet since the recommendation was made but has assured any new leases will fall within these boundaries.

A spokesman for the council said this is something which bosses will "always need to consider" from now on.

The spokesman added: “We will implement all of the recommendations and were already working on some of them prior to the publication of the Sheriff’s determination.

“The nature of some of the recommendations means this will always be an ongoing process.”

Erin McQuade, 18, her grandparents Jack Sweeney, 68, and his 69-year-old wife Lorraine, from Dumbarton, died in the Glasgow bin lorry crash on December 22 2014, along with Stephenie Tait, 29, and Jacqueline Morton, 51, both from Glasgow, and Gillian Ewing, 52, from Edinburgh.

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