Depots are undeniably safer spaces, but to improve them even more, we need to learn from the lessons of the past.
The railway has always needed depots of one kind or another. We maintain trains there, load wagons, clean coaching stock, and stockpile rails and sleepers. With so much kit around, and people to work with it, safety has to be at the top of everyone’s list.
But safety can sometimes take a long time to build. In the early days of depots, personal accidents were frequent – from staff being struck by trains, to dropping heavy items on their feet, to all manner of slip, trip and fall injuries.
As technology developed and working practices improved through the 20th century, the fatality and injury rate improved massively. But that doesn’t mean we can afford to be complacent; you still see incidents in the daily logs.
One thing that can help is the RED series of safety videos. RED 17, for example, looked at the risk to shunters – its dramatisation bringing the dangers of standing between moving rail vehicles starkly to life.
Fast-forward a decade or so, and a specific cross-industry Depot Working Group (DWG) had been set up. The group recognised that more needed to be done to increase everyone’s understanding of all the hazards involved with working at these sites.
In 2021, the DWG worked with us to develop a deeper understanding of train operator depot health and safety risk. The findings were presented in a report, which showed the industry where to focus effort to improve things.
The episode visits Ramsgate and Slade Green, discussing the development of the depot environment and the changing risk profile.
Our data showed a steady state of accidents and incidents in depots, which has meant the loss of one life every two-and-a-half years over the last decade. It also confirmed a peak in the number of reported incidents at around 10am. Principal Strategy Implementation Manager, Darryl Hopper, makes this point in RED 64, our latest frontline-facing safety video, and the latest to look at depot safety.
The episode visits Ramsgate and Slade Green, discussing the development of the depot environment and the changing risk profile. It considers the recent fatality at Tyseley, while Infrastructure Safety Leadership Group Chair Stuart Webster- Spriggs describes the issues that can arise in depot maintenance.
Depots are undeniably safer spaces than they were in 1850 and 1950. But to improve them even more for 2050, we need to keep the lessons of the past as we go on into the future.
