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HEALTH+SAFETY
RAILSTAFF JULY-AUGUST 2021
RAIL STILL
SAFER THAN ANDROADGREENER
B
ritain’s railways remain the safest and greenest forms of land transport, but there is no room for complacency.
The independent rail safety body RSSB has published its latest Annual Health and Safety Report for Britain’s railways, covering the last financial year 2020-21. A year like no other saw rail grappling with the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and a significant drop in passengers, all while ensuring the railways remained safe for people to work and use.
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A train journey is still over 20 times safer than travelling the same distance by car, meaning any shift from public to private transport would have a detrimental effect on safety, health and the environment, according to RSSB. Three people died in a train derailment at Carmont in August 2020, following 13 years with no passenger or workforce fatalities in accidents of that type in Britain. Conversely, there are at least 1,500 fatalities on Britain’s roads reported every year. While the comparison is stark, this takes nothing away from the tragic effects that poor safety performance has on the workforce, passengers and public, as well as the wider economy. RSSB are keen to state that safety cannot be taken for granted while the reforms prompted by the Williams-Shapps plan are brought in. Safety will be critical to maintaining the confidence needed by people and freight to return to rail, which in turn, will improve Britain’s economic and environmental prospects, meeting people’s needs and helping people to rediscover quality of life. RSSB’s Director of System Safety and Health, Ali Chegini said, “Fundamentally,
our Annual Health and Safety Report 2020-1 shows that Britain’s railways can continue to be proud of a formidable safety record that makes the train far safer than other transport modes. “The industry’s response to the pandemic was heroic, keeping the nation’s critical workers and supplies moving to where they needed to be, all while handling safety and the impact of Covid simultaneously.
