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The management of safety in Railtrack - A Review by the Health and Safety Executive

Document Summary

A report on safety management arrangements in Railtrack following the high speed collision at Ladbroke Grove in 1999.

This document was published in 2000 by Health and Safety Executive.

It was written by Health and Safety Executive.

This item is linked to the Accident at Ladbroke Grove on 5th October 1999

The original document format was Paper, and comprised 144 pages.

This document was kindly sourced from Office of Rail Regulation and is in our Safety reports collection. It was added to the Archive on 1st June 2009.

Copyright Information

This document is Crown Copyright, and is subject to the terms governing the reproduction of crown copyright material. Depending on the status and age of the original document, you may need an OPSI click-use license if you wish to reproduce this material, and other restrictions may apply. Please see this explanation for further details.

"This is a report of a review of safety management arrangements within Railtrack carried out by HSE. The review was commissioned by the Deputy Prime Minister following the Paddington rail crash on October 5 1999. The review began on October 21 and was completed on November 18 1999.

The review team was made up of 14 inspectors from across HSE and one from the Civil Aviation Authority. HSE staff came from a variety of disciplines and sectors including nuclear, offshore, chemicals, manufacturing, railways and HSE's Operations Unit.

During the review the team spent time at Railtrack's headquarters and in 3 Railtrack Zones: London North Eastern, based in York; East Anglia, based in London; and Midlands, based in Birmingham. Team members also held discussions with one contracting company working for Railtrack and with a train operating company.

There are a large number of safety related topics which could have been examined during the review. The team had to work to a short time scale and broad remit which meant that, of necessity, it had to be selective in its approach. A sample of Railtrack's activities were examined to provide a view on the company's arrangements for managing safety. There was a limit to how far the information obtained from interviews and documents could be verified in practice. Interviews were held with staff down to supervisor level and it was not possible in the time available to assess safety on site. Trades Union safety representatives in the Zones visited were kept informed of the review. "