Introduction
Our Annual Health and Safety Report 2023/24 is a snapshot of GB rail’s health and safety performance over the year from April 2023 to March 2024
Every fatality is a tragedy, the loss of a loved one, or friend. One is one too many, and there were 14 in accidents last year—three in stations and 11 at other locations. This demonstrates our need for vigilance, and the need for our work to continue. Something that goes just as much for where the numbers appear more positive.
While there were no passenger fatalities from train accidents, no workforce fatalities, and passenger journeys on the up, drilling down shows that there were more SPADs, incorrect usage at level crossings is up, and we continue to see elevated levels of work-related violence. While trespass fatalities are down, we’re seeing more trespass incidents than before the pandemic. General changes in social behaviour may be behind some of our trespass and assault issues.
Extreme weather in 2023/24 has likely contributed to a rise in earthworks failures—albeit below the levels seen in 2019/20. Network Rail’s £45bn rail improvement plan for the five-year control period includes £2.8bn for activities and technology that will help it better cope with extreme weather and climate change. But climate change isn’t the only change the railway faces. Amid a period of cost pressures across the industry, the transition to a new industry structure is still awaited.
Change is inevitable. The railway has dealt with it many times before. Trains kept running through nationalisation, modernisation, electrification, and privatisation. Keeping them running was vital during the pandemic, and safety and performance go hand in hand. If trains are on time, people and goods get to where they need to be when the timetable says they’ll get there. Punctual passengers are happy passengers—less likely to assault staff, verbally or otherwise. But punctuality is not all about signalling with intelligence, dispatching on time, or driving with skill. It’s about keeping our assets in good order, responding proportionately to risks, and acting quickly and decisively when there’s service disruption.
The railway is made up of many stakeholders. The connections between them can often be complicated and complicated connections need collaboration. This, and our industry’s recognition that we can never be complacent about any aspect of health or safety, is why 2023/24 also saw the publication of the Rail Health and Safety Strategy (RHSS). The RHSS builds on previous work and sets out the plan for the next five-years.
Drawn on consultation across the industry, it identifies challenges and opportunities for improvement. It covers five key risk areas including, public behaviour, operations, asset management, occupational health and safety, and health and wellbeing (see figure 1 overleaf). These key risks further break down into the ten areas that make up the chapters in this report.
Inside this year's Annual Health and Safety Report
Train operations
Passenger operations
Fatigue
Occupational health and safety
Asset integrity
Freight safety
Trespass and suicide
Passenger and staff assaults
Level crossings
Health and wellbeing
CP6 review and CP7 look forward
