21 September 2004 - HSE Publish, Annual Rail Safety Report for 2003 to 2004
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) have published on their rail web site, the Annual Report covering 1 April, 2003 to 31 March, 2004, for the safety of Britain's railways.
Some of the figures cover the following areas:
-
no passenger fatalities in train incidents
-
9 staff fatalities, including 6 track workers
-
12 passenger, and 18 other member of the public fatalities
-
378 signals passed at danger (SPADs); down 23 on last year, with serious SPADs up slightly from 143 to 147
-
broken rails on the Network Rail infrastructure fell by 25% to 334
-
137 track buckles on the Network Rail infrastructure, up 116 on last year
-
610 train incidents caused by vandalism, down 18% on last year but still accounting for 48% of all train incidents
-
18 people killed on level crossings: 1 train driver, 9 pedestrians and 8 car occupants. 28 incidents on level crossings, up 1 on last year.
The Railway Inspectorate, changed to HM
Railway Inspectorate (HMRI) in 1990, after being transferred to the HSE, has
provided Annual Reports on the safety of railways for over 150 years.
However, these Annual Reports, since October 1986, have been produced under
a Memorandum of Understanding, between the Secretaries of State for the
Environment and Transport and the Health and Safety Commission (HSC), which
makes a requisite, by HSE's HMRI to produce a report to HSC and the
Transport Secretary.
The published report covers the whole of Great Britain's railways i.e. Tyne
and Wear Metro, Light Railway, Docklands, London Underground all Network
Rail infrastructure, even minor railways and tram systems.
In order to bring our railway safety reporting in line with EU requirements
and Rail Safety and Standards Board who use the calendar year basis, the
next report from the HSE will cover the period 1 April, 2004 to 31 December,
2004. A date has not yet been passed for the next report.
Dr Allan Sefton, HSE’s Director of Rail Safety commented on the report:
“My report on rail safety for the year ending 31 March 2004 is a positive one. Once again, HSE’s HM Railway Inspectorate (HMRI) has noted improvements in key safety indicators and the year passed without a train incident causing a passenger fatality. However, it is with sadness that I report that 9 railway employees lost their lives, 3 more than last year, with 4 men killed at Tebay, Cumbria in February 2004. I am also concerned at the number and nature of the deaths and incidents at level crossings during the year.
“The completion in December 2003 of the programme to install train protection and warning system (TPWS) was a real achievement by the rail industry. TPWS is proving to be increasingly successful in reducing the consequence of signals passed at danger and we are supporting work by the industry on evaluating the effectiveness of TPWS for overspeed mitigation.
“I regard the increasing co-operation between HMRI and all key industry players to achieve the common goals of a safe and reliable railway as another positive feature of the year. In practical terms, HMRI and the industry are focusing on those risks that could lead to a catastrophic event such as a collision or derailment. This is underscored by our continuing work to deliver key changes to the way HMRI is organised, and improve how it plans, prioritises and communicates its work.“We are still absorbing the outcomes of the Government’s White Paper ‘The Future of Rail’ that announced that rail health and safety and economic regulation will be merged in a single body. I am pleased that the White Paper acknowledged the good work that HSE has carried out as the independent rail health and safety regulator. There is much to be done in the transition period, but HMRI is committed to ensuring that this does not in any way deflect from our efforts to ensure better management of risks on the railway”.
The report can be accessed by clicking this link - HSEs Annual Report on the safety record of the railways in Great Britain during 2003/04
Further information can be found on the HSEs rail web site by clicking here.
Article by Alexandra Johnston
