A comment on the safety of our railways.


On 8th April 2020 a railway worker was killed by a train in Northamptonshire.  An investigation is underway.  On 14th April the Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) published a safety digest into an incident in November 2019 at Kirtlebridge during which rail workers were nearly struck by a train travelling at 125 MPH.  They got clear with less than one second to spare.  In December 2019 a train driver was killed when passing between two stationary trains in a depot in Birmingham.  In February 2020 RAIB published a report into a serious incident at Balham in April 2019 which nearly led to a train crash. 

Looking back over the last few years one can see report after report critical of the railway industry.  Many of these reports highlight the same issues:  (a)  Poor safety critical communications, (b) problems with the management of level crossings and (c) railway staff being exposed to unnecessary risks when track side.

RAIB is, by statute and design, not an organisation that apportions blame or prosecutes offenders.  The advantages of this approach in safety critical environments is well established.  However what happens when organisations repeatedly fail to heed clear warnings?

All citizens and corporations are responsible to the law for their actions.  Prosecution is a blunt tool and corporate convictions are seen by some as little more than an operating cost.  Others see them as an essential part of obtaining justice for the bereaved and the injured.  Clearly there is a balance to be struck and the public interest is the tipping point of this balance.

Enforcement of Health and Safety legislation on the railway falls to the Office of Rail and Road (ORR).  An examination of their website shows a low number of successful prosecutions.  In the period 2017 to date (April 2020) 11 companies were convicted.  Of these one freight company was convicted three times,  a Train Operator once, London Underground once and Network Rail twice. A heritage railway was also convicted after a child nearly fell through a hole in the floor of a train.  The other cases were railway contractors.    As the safety regulator ORR served an Improvement Notice on Network Rail in July 2019 because the company was not “ensuring the safety of their employees and contractors who are on or near the line….”  Network Rail have until 31 July 2022 to comply.

From what can be gleaned from their annual report it appears that the British Transport Police have not instigated any corporate prosecutions against railway companies in the last couple of years.

We have one of the safest railway systems in the world.  But what is clear is that it could easily be safer.  If railway companies will not learn the lessons described in well evidenced and well written RAIB Reports they should expect to appear in the criminal courts.  As members of the public we expect the enforcers of the law to see to it that we are protected from a criminal level of negligence.  Let us hope that our guardians are on the case and this this discussion will not be rekindled in the aftermath of a major incident

#railwaysafety #railwayaccidents #orr #raib #healthandsafety

Philip Trendall






https://orr.gov.uk/rail/health-and-safety/investigation-and-enforcement/our-enforcement-action-to-date/prosecutions 

https://orr.gov.uk/rail/health-and-safety/investigation-and-enforcement/our-enforcement-action-to-date/improvement-notices/improvement-notices-2019

https://www.btp.police.uk/PDF/BTP_Statistical_Bulletin_2018_2019.pdf





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