Rail Engineering Firm Fined £600,000 For Health & Safety Failings During Work In Market Harborough

A rail engineering company has been fined £600,000 for health and safety breaches after an excavator lifting vehicle overturned during improvement works at Market Harborough Railway Station.

No-one was seriously injured, although the operator had to be pulled from the cab by other workers, who smashed the windscreen to get him out.

An investigation by rail regulator, the Office of Rail and Road, found there was a late change in the equipment being used to move pieces of track, which had inadequate lifting capacity for the planned works.

Warnings were also ignored, with safety systems disabled to enable the work to continue.

Pic: Office of Rail and Road

Amey Rail Limited was prosecuted by the regulator under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and admitted failing to ensure lifting operations were properly planned, supervised and and carried out in a safe manner, following the incident in the early hours of October 21st 2018.

The firm was also ordered to pay costs of £15,119.49 by Leicester Magistrates’ and a victim surcharge of £170.

ORR’s HM Chief Inspector of Railways Ian Prosser CBE, said:

“The risks of failing to comply with the lifting regulations are well known throughout the industry and clearly foreseeable. In this case basic errors were made and it is by sheer luck that no one was seriously hurt.

“None of these failures to follow well established procedures, nor the isolation of safety systems on the excavators, were identified despite the presence of two senior members of staff on site during the night to manage the work.

“This meant Amey failed to take measures in order to adequately manage the risks presented when tandem lifting loads of the size and weight of those undertaken on 21 October 2018.”

An Amey spokesperson told Hfm: “The Court acknowledged that given the hazardous environment in which Amey Rail Ltd (ARL) operate, they take health and safety seriously and have a good record, but on this occasion had fallen short of its own high standards.

“We regret that this incident took place. The health, safety and wellbeing of our employees, supply chain partners and the public is our top priority.

“We are committed to safe working practices at all times and reviewed our operating procedures following this incident.”