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TRACK SAFETY
RAILSTAFF SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2020
REPORT BY COLIN WHEELER
DELEGATION AND ACCOUNTABILITY,
MAKING DECISIONS USING ENGINEERING JUDGEMENT WHEN SOMETHING HAPPENS ON THE RAILWAY, WHO IS ACCOUNTABLE? AND WHO CAN STOP WORK OR TRAINS UNTIL IT'S SAFE TO RUN?
C
olin Wheeler, in his regular safety column for RailStaff, remembers the time when the engineer in charge really WAS in charge and questions whether the same philosophy applies today.
Working as a railway engineer, I was part of organisations which would now be viewed as autocratic. During years with British Rail, I worked out of offices in Leeds, York, Sheffield, London, Newcastle upon Tyne, Manchester and Liverpool. I recall management meetings at which I was either present at, told about or chaired. There was no question of voting followed by a majority decision leading to corporate responsibility. The engineer was personally responsible for the railway infrastructure and could be held accountable. There were occasions when I found it necessary to overrule the management team. I recall the railway’s solicitors informing me that, if things went wrong, legal assistance would be provided, but, if found guilty of getting it wrong, I could expect to lose both my job and my pension!
This ensured a personal focus on safety. The responsibility chain was clearly defined in the out-based districts and divisions. I was impressed by the understanding of track patrollers and supervisors that, if they found an unsafe section of railway, it was their immediate duty to report it and, if warranted, tell the signaller to stop trains running. Finding a derailment level of track twist, embankment giving way, broken rail, flooded tracks or a bridge damaged by a large road vehicle rendering it unsafe to use are relevant examples. The decision to close the railway or to impose an axle weight or speed restriction could only be lifted by someone both qualified and senior, who then themselves became personally responsible.
“Lack of engagement”
In the July/August edition of Railstaff, I reported details of the accident investigation by RAIB (Rail Accident Investigation Branch) of the eight-coach HST
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Colin Wheeler.
