DEALING WITH ACCIDENTS

RMTnews :: march 2008 :: www.rmt.org.uk 14 Leading rail and maritime accident investigators urged greater co-operation and contact with RMT reps, at the union’s sixth annual health and safety conference in Doncaster last month. Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) chief inspector Carolyn Griffiths explained that the body, although funded by the Department of Transport, acts entirely independently in its work. She urged RMT health and safety reps to always contact the RAIB whenever an accident – whether minor or serious – occurred in their area. “If you feel you’ve got something that’s material to our investigation we would welcome that contact,” Ms Griffiths told delegates. “And that’s what you’re there for, in part, to help us and we’re here to help you. We’re both after the same thing – to make the railways a safer place.” The RAIB has compiled over 76 reports, its largest being into last year’s fatal rail crash at Grayrigg, and made 400 recommendations since its foundation in 2005. “It’s not always been an easy ride. Sometimes we’ve had some very robust discussions. But industry has taken on the vast majority of our recommendations,” said Ms Griffiths. She stressed that although funded by the DoT, her organisation remains fully independent and it is a criminal offence for anyone to obstruct its investigations. “I’ve not felt anyone fingering my collar and thus far I’ve had all the funds I need,” she said. MARITIME Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) deputy chief inspector Steve Clinch warned that seafarers are far more likely to die in the workplace or suffer injury than those in other industries. While there has been a decrease in the number of injured crewmen in recent years thanks to increased regulation, around three-quarters of those hurt are likely to be employed in the kind of jobs typical of RMT members at sea, he said. Captain Clinch explained that many accidents are due to the fact that crews are “dead on their feet” from working excessive hours. “Many of the ships around our coastline are working punishing routines. CRASH: Grayrigg derailment March 2007 DEALING WITH ACCIDENTS Over 100 delegates to the union’s health and safety conference in Doncaster deal with accidents, incident investigation and the role of safety reps Conference webcasts A video archive of the conference can be viewed online by visiting www.rmt.org.uk/webcasts. Enter your RMT membership number (user name) and your surname in capital letters (password) to log on.