Executive summary
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.
Related Recommendations
develop and implement procedures to ensure that personnel with less than 6 months experience in roles in safety-critical areas, such as the shunting environment, are not rostered to work together as part of the same work group.
develop and implement a support programme for newly qualified entrants to jobs in safety-critical areas, such as the shunting environment, focusing on ongoing safety awareness, on-the-job training and ability to perform tasks to include such initiatives as peer review, mentoring and supervisory observation