Wagon PK 1123, broken handgrip, Stillwater, 1 October 1999
Status
Closed
Occurrence Date
Report Publication Date
Jurisdiction
NZ
Legacy Inquiry Number
99-121
At approximately 0700 hours on Friday, 1 October 1999, a rail operator fell from a slow moving wagon during shunting operations at Stillwater, when a handgrip detached as he was boarding the wagon. The rail operator fell backwards away from the wagon and landed alongside the track, sustaining minor injuries as a result.
The safety issues identified included:
• the inability of the inspection regime to identify the defective handgrip
• the unreported damage to, and unauthorised reinstatement of, handgrips arising from load handling and inappropriate shunting methods
• the susceptibility of repair welded handgrips to sudden failure
• the control of shunting in rail sidings.
Four safety recommendations were made to Tranz Rail Limited, and three to the Land Transport Safety Authority, to address these issues.
[The 3 safety recommendations to the LTSA were reaffirmed as a result of the Commission's investigation into another incident at Stillwater on 13 September 2001. Refer report 01-112.]
The safety issues identified included:
• the inability of the inspection regime to identify the defective handgrip
• the unreported damage to, and unauthorised reinstatement of, handgrips arising from load handling and inappropriate shunting methods
• the susceptibility of repair welded handgrips to sudden failure
• the control of shunting in rail sidings.
Four safety recommendations were made to Tranz Rail Limited, and three to the Land Transport Safety Authority, to address these issues.
[The 3 safety recommendations to the LTSA were reaffirmed as a result of the Commission's investigation into another incident at Stillwater on 13 September 2001. Refer report 01-112.]
Location
Stillwater (-42.436448,171.352999) [may be approximate]