How Often do Incidents on Railways Occur?
Britain is a world leader in rail passenger safety partly due to ensuring that strict health and safety guidelines and work practices are complied with. Organisations including the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) in the UK are key in the setting and maintenance of standards and, when rail incidents do occur, they are professionally investigated by the Rail Accident Branch of the Department of Transport (RAIB). Also, and importantly, rail operators, contractors and associated civil engineering companies are committed to safety and invest heavily in risk identification, risk management and incident investigation.
However, due to the high-risk nature of work and also operations involving the public, incidents on the railway still occur. According to the ORR, between 2022-23 the UK rail sector (including mainline, Transport for London, London Underground Limited, tram and light rail and minor railways) reported 2 workforce fatalities and 10 non-workforce fatalities on the mainline, a figure which decreased to 7 non-workforce fatalities for 2023-24. They also reported 10,709 mainline workforce injuries between 2023-24, 16% of which were considered serious.
In terms of train-related incidents, 207 train accidents were reported on the mainline in 2023-24, which was made up of 16 high-risk accidents: 6 collisions with road vehicles at level crossings; 3 collisions between trains; 6 derailments and 1 collision with a buffer stop.
As highlighted above, rail incidents can cause significant disruption to services and pose great risk to rail workers and passengers alike. Therefore, understanding their root causes through effective incident investigation is key.
Common Types of Rail Incidents
Some of the most common railway incidents can be categorised into the following key types:
- Derailments – One of the most severe types of railway incidents.
- Collisions – Train-to-train or train-to-object collisions. Â
- Uncontrolled Train Movements – Runaway trains or uncontrolled rolling stock movements.
- Track and Infrastructure Failures – Railway incidents involving track failures, broken or buckled rails, bridge collapses, and signal malfunctions.
- Level Crossing Accidents – Incidents involving vehicles at level crossings.
- Workforce Incidents – Operating in a high-risk environment also means that incidents on railway sites include slips, trips, falls, electrocution, and those involving moving vehicles or machinery.
Underlying Causes
Research has shown that in virtually every incident, an underlying cause has been ‘change’. Examples of this include:
- Failing to follow procedures
- A drift from standards
- Maintenance problems
- Failing to control controllable situations
Another major cause is the failure to learn lessons from the past or for the information to have ‘slipped’ from organisational memory.
For workers in the rail industry, there is the possibility of facing these risks on a daily basis, which highlights the importance of thorough training and investigation of past railway operational incidents in order to predict and prevent future instances.
The Role of Incident Investigation
Effective incident investigation is a cornerstone of your overall strategy for incident prevention because it can identify all such causes, leading to actionable recommendations that help improve rail safety. Without a well-structured and consistent approach, lessons and findings from past rail incidents may be overlooked, which can lead to repeated failures.
The Benefits of Using the TOP-SET Method for the Rail Industry
TOP-SET is a unique investigation methodology, now used in over 40 countries. In the rail sector alone, TOP-SET has over 20 years’ experience.
The Kelvin TOP-SET Incident Investigation Method provides a logical, structured and practical approach to incident investigation.
Other incident investigation methodologies are often, in effect, analysis not complete investigation methodologies, whereas TOP-SET really does guide how to investigate and establish what went wrong. One of its great strengths is that, once learned, it is straightforward to apply and use.
The key benefits of TOP-SET include:Â
- Structured 6-step process ensuring that your investigation is thorough and identifies what factors went wrong before using the findings to conduct a detailed Root Cause Analysis. Effective recommendations and remedial actions based on sound investigation and analysis.
- Consistency – By using the TOP-SET method, you can achieve consistency across your incident investigations because it works the same every time.
- Straightforward – TOP-SET is easy to follow and doesn’t use complicated language or jargon.
- Field applicability – TOP-SET is designed for practical use in the field. This is perfect for workers in the rail industry operating in dynamic environments.
To be able to put TOP-SET into practice in the field, incident investigation training is a crucial step. We offer a range of courses available in person and online suited to differing role levels and requirements.
Improving Rail Safety Through Incident Investigation
Many years ago, Kelvin TOP-SET devised and introduced the term ‘Organisational Rust’. This was to point out that every organisation has small changes happening all the time which, if not identified and corrected, can lead to incidents. Companies using TOP-SET can identify these potential causes with benefits of both cost-effectiveness and the maintenance and improvement of safety standards.
If you’re in a rail or a rail-related organisation and want to stop Organisational Rust, get in touch below to find out how the TOP-SET Incident Investigation System can help.
