RO-2000-108

Shunting fatality, Middleton,, 10 May 2000
Status
Closed
Occurrence Date
Report Publication Date
Jurisdiction
NZ
Legacy Inquiry Number
00-108
On Wednesday 10 May 2000 at about 1130, while the Middleton yard shunt was propelling a rake of 5 wagons into the freight centre grid, the shunter fell under the leading wagon of the rake as he tried to board it and was killed instantly.

Safety issues addressed in the report are:

• the potential for inexperienced staff to be involved in shunting fatalities
• the lack of a support programme for newly qualified entrants into safety-critical areas such as the shunting environment
• the rostering process not recognising experience levels when grouping individuals into work groups in safety-critical areas
• the suitability of footsteps on over-width wagons.

Two safety recommendations were made to the operator.
Location
Middleton (-43.540381,172.586306) [may be approximate]