CASUALISATION IN THE DOCK

An investigation into the death of a Network Rail worker working for contractor SkyBlue has found that it could have been avoided if a Safe System Of Work (SSOW) had been implemented for the task at hand. Track worker Scott Dobson was struck by a passenger train near Sykes Lane, about half a mile from the Lincoln side of Saxilby station on December 4, 2012. He had been working on the tracks just outside of Saxilby on behalf of Network Rail, and was the site’s Controller of Site Safety (COSS). Scott Dobson was first hired by SkyBlue in 2006 and qualified to act as a COSS in 2008. The Rail Accident Investigation has since been investigating the causes surrounding his death, noting a number of safety failings by the contractor. The RAIB report found that SkyBlue did not have a process to ensure all incidents or accidents affecting people it had hired are reported and recorded. It found that there was a lack of clarity within SkyBlue as to who was responsible for managing the follow-up of two near-miss incidents involving the same COSS previously, followed by no action taken by Network Rail. SkyBlue also had no effective performance review regime for managing the competence of people it hired for work on Network Rail infrastructure at the time. It also found Dobson was distracted by the noise, cold conditions and work being undertaken on the line, perhaps even getting involved in the work, and did not see or hear the approaching train. RAIB said that other staff contracted by SkyBlue had not challenged the absence of the SSOW, the COSS, lack of briefing by the COSS to the supervisor, or working within an unsafe area. It also concluded Dobson had not been subject to an effective formal performance review by SkyBlue that had hired him for COSS duties for the work and on other occasions. Network Rail has been given a recommendation to better control the risk arising from the use of agency staff in safety leadership roles. RMT union general secretary Bob Crow said that the investigation highlighted the issues track workers face and the dangers of using causal labour. “The RAIB report into this appalling tragedy shines the spotlight on the dangers inherent in the current working environment of track workers on Britain’s railways. “Those ever present dangers are compounded by the use of contractors and agencies and the growth of zero -hour contacts and casualisation in this safety critical environment,” he said. “In this case the victim of this tragedy was on the books of SkyBlue, and several steps away from the actual organisation responsible for rail infrastructure, Network Rail. “That chaotic approach has to end with Network Rail taking over these contracted staff under central control on decent pay and conditions. “The report also exposes the culture on our railways where cuts have led to impossible workloads and pressure of work within a management system that allows workers’ on the railway without a safe system of operation being managed and maintained at all times. “That culture has to change and that means calling a halt on subbing out and casualisation,” he said. Investigation into the death of a track worker highlights a number of safety failings by the contractor CASUALISATION IN THE DOCK RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: november/december 2013 :: RMTnews 12 DANGER: The position of the workmen at the scene as the train approached. Diagram: RAIB