Health and Safety figures for 2006

Summary

• For a second consecutive year, there were no passenger or workforce fatalities in train accidents.

• 2 passengers died as a result of assault.

• A further 6 passengers died in accidents at stations; alcohol was a contributory factor in 3 cases.

• 2 members of the workforce died in accidents in the trackside environment.

• The number of Potentially Higher-risk Train Accidents (PHRTAs) was 6% lower than in 2005.

• At the end of 2006, the risk from Signals Passed at Danger (SPADs) stood at less than 10% of its March 2001 level.

• For the first time since 1997, there were no accidental fatalities involving vehicle drivers at level crossings.

• 5 pedestrians died at level crossings, the lowest number since 1999.

• Fatalities arising from trespass and suicide increased during 2006, with a total of 288, compared with 248 in 2005.

Train accidents

• For the second year running, there were no on-board fatalities in train accidents. However, in February 2007, a train derailment at Grayrigg resulted in 1 passenger fatality and 22 people requiring hospital treatment.

• For the first time since 1997, there were no accidental fatalities to road vehicle occupants at level crossings. However, a car driver did die when his vehicle was struck by a train, after he had driven through the boundary fence onto the line at Copmanthorpe, near York. In this case, the train also derailed.

• The following are among the precursors to have shown improvements during 2006:

· Level crossing near misses fell by 11%.

· Broken rails reduced by 28% to the lowest recorded figure of 227.

· The number of SPADs classed as potentially severe reduced from 22 to 18.

· Objects placed on the line by vandals, and the incidence of non-rail vehicles on the line, fell by 9% and 14% respectively.

• At the end of 2006, the risk from SPADs stood at less than 10% of the March 2001 level.

Passenger risk

• There were 8 passenger fatalities in 2006.

· 2 passengers died as a result of assault - 1 incident occurred on a train, the other in a station.

· 6 passengers died in accidents at stations; alcohol was a contributory factor in three of these cases.

· The number of passenger accidental major injuries fell from 254 to 210, due to a significant reduction in the number of accidents at stations (where the majority of passenger major injuries occur).

Workforce safety

• 2 members of the workforce were killed during the year:

• This is the fewest number of staff fatalities since 1997, and the first time in the same period that no track worker fatalities have occurred.

• Workforce major injuries also showed significant improvement, with a reduction of 24% from 2005, continuing the downward trend seen since the 2004 peak.

Public risk

• 300 members of the public lost their lives on the railway during 2006:

· 219 were the result of suicide or suspected suicide, an 8% increase on 2005

· 69 were the result of trespass, a 50% increase on 2005.

• Of the remaining 12 public fatalities not resulting from suicide or trespass:

· 5 were pedestrians at level crossings - 1 was a driver whose car was hit by a train after he had driven through the boundary fence onto the line.

· 6 involved falls from overbridges.

Risk at level crossings

• 5 pedestrians died at level crossings - the lowest number since 1999.

• There were no accidental road vehicle occupant deaths at level crossings for the first time since 1997.

• The number of level crossing collisions between road vehicles and trains was the lowest total for at least ten years, and 39% lower than the average for the previous four years.

• For the second year running, there was no derailment resulting from a collision.

Personal security

• During 2006, two passengers were fatally assaulted.

• The average passenger’s likelihood of being the victim of violent crime during their journey is less than 1 in 100,000.

• The latest National Passenger Survey, commissioned by Passenger Focus in Autumn 2006, shows that perceptions of personal security have been generally improving over the past five years.

Station safety

• On average, stations account around 40% of the total risk (in fatalities and weighted injuries) on the railway, and roughly two thirds of the passenger risk.

• Over the past 5 years, around a third of passenger deaths have had some indication that intoxication played a part in the accident.

• There is also a strong pattern of its involvement in slips, trips and falls (which account for the bulk of passenger injuries), with those showing alcohol as a factor reaching a peak of around 60% during the late evening.

Benchmarking

• The railway in Britain demonstrates similar levels of performance and rates of improvement as seen in the rest of Western Europe.

• Some types of railway work are amongst the higher-risk occupations nationally.

• From the passenger’s point of view, rail travel is a very low risk form of public transport, which is on a par with air travel or journeying by bus or coach. Per kilometer, it is safer than car travel by a factor of around 20.

• Cycling and walking are both around 300 times less safe. The highest risk form of transport continues to be the motorcycle.

(All information taken from the Rail and Safety Standards Board’s Annual Safety Performance Report 2006)