A Better, Safer Railway Rail Safety in Context 2019/20 A summary of health and safety performance, operational learning and risk reduction activities on Britain’s railway. 1 Introduction Black swans. Sometimes something happens that you didn’t see coming. Mostly things happen that could have been spotted a mile off. To some, the Clapham collision of 1988 was one such out-of-the-blue event. But when the resulting inquiry delved deeper, a series of similar wrong-side failures was soon revealed. The same could, and doubtless will, be said of the Covid-19 pandemic, at least as far as Britain is concerned. It was seen in China, it came to Italy, it was inevitable that it would come to our islands…because there are no islands in our hyper-connected world. It is too early to see the full effects of the Covid-19 lockdown, as it came into effect on 23 March—just 8 days before the data cut-off for this suite of reports. The data summarised below represents a railway in full effect, with trendlines looking the way we’ve come to expect. The lockdown will distort that picture for 2020/21, so RSSB will be conducting a deep dive on the changes it has brought about, what rail did well and should keep doing after it ends, and the lessons that need to be taken forward. RSSB will also keep on monitoring. It’s how you spot a black swan coming, after all… Headlines 2019/20 • 31 people died as a result of accidents in 2019/20; 499 received major injuries – both represent a decrease on recent years. • 283 people died as a result of suicide or suspected suicide. This is an increase on the 269 recorded last year. • While there were no passenger fatalities in train derailments or collisions in 2019/20, 7 people were killed on trains or in stations. • There were 21 fatalities to members of the public from accidental causes in 2019/20, which is 7 fewer than the previous year. • There were 3 workforce fatalities in 2019/20, an increase on recent years. • Passenger and workforce fatality rates in the UK were well below the EU average over the five-year period 2014-2018. 2 2 Safety overview 2.1 Overall harm Figure 1 Risk in context (SRM) Injuries in yards, depots and sidings, 7.2 FWI/year Workforce injuries on the mainline, 26.8 FWI/year Passenger injuries on the mainline railway, 56.8 FWI/year Public injuries on the mainline railway (not in stations), 43.7 FWI/year Public injuries in stations, 4.9 FWI/year The Safety Risk Model (SRM) helps us understand the overall profile of underlying risk on the railway. Figure 1 shows the total level of accidental risk on the mainline railway to be 132.2 FWI a year, of which 47% occurs to passengers on the mainline railway and to the public in stations, 20% to the workforce, and 33% to members of the public not in stations.1 A further 7.2 FWI/year occurs in yards, depots and sidings. Most of this risk affects the workforce, with nearly all of the remainder involving acts of public trespass. 1 For more information on this and all the other data in this report, please see the Data transparency document. 3 2.1.1 Trend in overall harm Figure 2 Fatalities and weighted physical injuries (excluding suicides) 116.6 120.8 116.0 104.7 100.5 100 FWPI 50 0 2015/2016 2016/2017 2017/2018 2018/2019 2019/2020 Fatali�es Major injuries Minor injuries 49 46 43 40 36 40 40 31 FWPI FWPI FWPI 20 20 20 0 0 0 The total accidental physical harm occurring during 2019/20 was 100.5 fatalities and weighted physical injuries (FWPI). Thirty-one people died as a result of accidents, while 499 received major injuries, both of which represent a decrease on recent years. In addition, 283 people died as a result of suicide or suspected suicide. This is an increase on the 269 recorded last year. Table 1: Fatalities due to suicide or suspected suicide 2015/16 2016/17 2017/18 2018/19 2019/20 Fatalities 251 240 250 269 283 4 2.1.2 Trend in non-workforce harm Figure 3 Non-workforce physical harm by injury degree (excluding level crossings, trespass and suicides) FWPI 61.8 50 60 / 52.9 53.4 billion passenger journeys 51.6 40 45.4 40 30 FWPI 20 20 10 0 0 2015/2016 2016/2017 2017/2018 2018/2019 2019/2020 Fatali�es Major injuries Minor injuries 40 40 40 30 30 30 20 20 20 FWPI FWPI FWPI 13 10 10 7 10 10 5 6 0 0 0 While there were no passenger fatalities in train derailments or collisions during 2019/20 (the thirteenth financial year in succession this has been the case), 7 people were killed on trains or in stations: • On 18 August 2019, a person fell to the tracks and was struck by a train at West Norwood. • On 8 September 2019, a person stumbled onto the line at Swanscombe and was electrocuted by the conductor rail. • On 25 October 2019, a person was struck and killed by a train at Battersea Park, having been seen trying to climb back to the platform from the track. The driver applied the emergency brake, but was unable to stop in time. • On 27 January 2020, a member of the public was stabbed on the new overbridge at East Croydon. • On 1 February 2020, a member of staff found a person on the tracks with a severe head injury at Redhill. Witness accounts and CCTV showed the person to be unsteady on their feet before they fell to the track and hit their head. • On 21 February 2020, a passenger felt unwell and collapsed onto the line at Bristol Temple Meads, later dying of a head injury. 5 • On 26 February 2020, a person was struck by a train after falling from the platform at Eden Park. Figure 3 shows the overall level of harm recorded for 2019/20 was 53.4 FWPI. This is lower than the level recorded in 2018/19. When normalised by passenger journeys (shown by the green line), there was a 13% decrease in the rate of fatalities and weighted physical injuries. Weighted major injuries dominate total non-workforce harm. The total number of major injuries recorded in 2019/20 was 353, which is 29 fewer than the previous year. Figure 4 Level crossing and trespass physical harm by injury degree 44.2 40 38.8 32.7 30.1 30 23.0 FWPI 20 10 0 2015/2016 2016/2017 2017/2018 2018/2019 2019/2020 Fatali�es Major injuries Minor injuries 42 40 40 40 36 30 30 28 30 30 21 FWPI FWPI FWPI 20 20 20 10 10 10 0 0 0 There were 21 fatalities to members of the public from accidental causes in 2019/20, which is 7 fewer than the previous year. Of the 21: • 17 were trespassing at the time of the accident • two were using level crossings • one fell from height onto railway infrastructure • one was electrocuted while on an overline bridge. The details of the non-trespass fatalities are: • On 9 July 2019, a member of the public was struck by a passenger train at Ty Gwyn (passive) foot crossing. They had been chasing a child who’d run over the interface moments before. 6 • On 23 July 2019, a member of public was struck by a train while pushing a bike across Cornton No.2 footpath crossing. It is thought the individual had been unable to open the exit gate in time. • On 27 July 2019, a motionless body was struck by a train Leicester. Investigation revealed prior injuries consistent with falling from height. • On 18 August 2019, a youth was electrocuted after coming into indirect contact with overhead line equipment while standing on a bridge. Relatively few non-fatal injuries to members of the public were recorded during 2019/20. This is partly because the types of accidents involving members of the public away from stations have a high likelihood of fatality. In addition, injuries occurring during acts of prohibited behaviour (such as trespass) are not likely to be reported. 2.1.3 Trend in workforce harm Figure 5 Workforce physical harm by injury degree 26.6 24.9 25.0 24.2 24.1 20 FWPI 10 0 2015/2016 2016/2017 2017/2018 2018/2019 2019/2020 Fatali�es Major injuries Minor injuries 15 15 15 10 10 10 FWPI FWPI FWPI 5 5 5 3 2 1 1 0 0 0 0 Figure 5 shows that three workforce fatalities were recorded in 2019/20, two on the running line, the other in a depot: • On 3 July 2019, two track workers were struck and fatally injured by a passenger train at Margam East Junction. They were part of a group of six staff undertaking scheduled track maintenance on lines still open to traffic. RAIB is investigating. • On 14 December 2019, a member of the workforce was crushed between two trains being coupled at Tyseley depot. RAIB is investigating. 7 The level of physical harm to members of the workforce was 24.1 FWPI in 2019/20, a slight decrease on the previous year. 2.2 Train accident risk Incidents in this category include derailments, collisions between trains, rollback collisions, buffer stop collisions, trains striking road vehicles, train fires, open door collisions, collisions with objects, large objects falling onto trains, collisions with animals, trains being struck by missiles and train explosions.