Michael Mungovan: Rail companies must be properly trained and supervised, says the Health and Safety Executive

HSE Press Release: E136:04 - 1 October 2004

Two companies, McGinley Recruitment Services Limited (MRS) and Balfour Beatty Rail Infrastructure Services Limited, (BBRIS) today received fines totalling £325,000 in the Central Criminal Court, London. The prosecution, brought by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), followed its investigation into the death of rail worker Michael Mungovan.

Michael Mungovan, aged 22, died in the early hours of Monday, 9 October 2000 after being struck by a train at Vauxhall, London. Michael was a student at Brunel University and had worked only a few times on the railway. Vauxhall is a complex and busy section of track, and Michael had been tasked by BBRIS with taking the track into possession. He was walking down the track towards a platform when he was struck from behind by a train. HSE alleged that both companies had failed in their duty of care towards Michael by exposing him to risks to his safety. MRS and BBRIS each pleaded guilty to a charge of breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 at an earlier hearing at City of London Magistrates on 16 June 2004.

HSE's HM Railway Inspector, Chris Collett who led the HSE investigation said:

"Michael's untimely and unnecessary death underscores the need for companies to ensure that those working on the railways do so only when they have received proper training, instruction and information, and that they are supervised by competent people. As events earlier this week have sadly shown, railways are dangerous places and it is essential that work on them is effectively managed. Following Michael's death, the rail industry revised its Rule Book to make explicit the requirement that trackworkers undertaking possession work are properly supervised. However, I appreciate that this will be of little comfort to Michael's family, who approach the fourth anniversary of his death knowing that it was entirely avoidable, and that both companies should have taken steps to prevent Michael from coming to any harm."

Dr Allan Sefton, HSE Director of Rail Safety said:

"Health and safety law affords protection to all those engaged in work activities and we expect those firms and agencies which supply labour to meet their statutory obligations. Michael's death was a result of systemic failures by MRS and an unsafe system of work operated by BBRIS at the time. On behalf of all my colleagues in HSE I extend my deepest sympathies to the Mungovan family for their loss."

MRS of Watford, Hertfordshire was fined £175,000 and ordered to pay costs of £24,000 to HSE. BBRIS (known at the time of the incident as Balfour Beatty Rail Maintenance Ltd) of Thornton Heath, Surrey was fined £150,000 and ordered to pay costs of £18,144 to HSE in the Central Criminal Court, London.

Notes to editors

1. 22-year-old Michael Mungovan was struck and killed by a train at about 0025 hours on Monday, 9 October 2000. The train was formed of empty coaching stock. It was running at permitted line speed of 50 mph immediately prior to the incident, travelling from Waterloo Station to a depot at Wimbledon. The site of the incident, Vauxhall, is the first station from Waterloo (south west direction) and the line comprises eight tracks that are carried on a brick viaduct above street level. Michael was walking with a colleague, Mr Hamilton Hempstead, in the down main fast line with his back to oncoming trains towards platform 5/6 at Vauxhall; these two platforms are situated between the down main fast line and the up main fast line and are seldom used for passenger services.

2. Michael and his colleague had been tasked with taking the track into possession which entailed locating relevant switches near the track and fixing equipment to them to cut the flow of electric current to the track. Possessions are the means by which railway lines are taken out of operational use to permit essential engineering works to be carried out safely. Shortly after midnight both men were seen on the track by the crew of a stoneblowing machine. As the train approached the men from behind, the stoneblower crew tried to warn them; Mr Hempstead was seen to jump out of the way immediately before Michael was struck and killed by the approaching train.

3. BBRIS was appointed infrastructure maintenance contractor by Railtrack (now Network Rail) for the Wessex Contract Area in October 1999. The area covered lines from Waterloo to Portsmouth, Weymouth and to a point just short of Exeter. MRS is an employment agency that supplies labour to the railway industry; BBRIS had a series of contracts with MRS for the supply of labour for the Wessex contract since October 1999. Prior to the 8/9 October 1999, BBRIS had varied its contract with MRS for the agency to supply an 8 man gang - known as a 'core' gang - to assist BBRIS's track maintenance office. The purpose of the core gang was to ensure a minimum standard of competencies being provided; this in turn would lead to increased familiarity, and hence safety.

4. Michael heard about MRS and the opportunity to work on the railway from friends working for MRS. Contact was made with MRS and in 1999 Michael received personal track safety training, which at the time was the minimum requirement to do rail work. His previous rail experience was limited to working only a few shifts. On the night in question, the 8/9th October, Michael arranged to take a friend's shift. MRS was unaware that he would be working at Vauxhall on that night; in fact MRS was unaware that Michael had worked one other shift prior to the 8/9th October. Mr Hempstead had previously been suspended by BBRIS from certain duties following one occasion when he had placed protection on the wrong track. MRS supplied Mr Hempstead that night and he formed part of the team that included Michael. Concerns about staff competency and safe systems of work were raised in the weeks immediately before the night of 8/9 October 2000.

5. Both British Transport Police and HSE thoroughly investigated the circumstances of Michael's death. At the Coroner's Inquest on 20 May 2002 the jury returned a verdict of 'unlawful killing'. In prosecuting both MRS and BBRIS, HSE alleged that:

• MRS supplied a team less qualified than that specified by BBRIS:
• MRS failed to check the composition of the team meaning that workers were allowed to replace a colleague unbeknown to MRS; and
• By allowing Michael to work with Mr Hempstead, Michael was effectively placed under the supervision of a colleague who was at the time suspended from the very duties he was directed to do that night.
• For its part, BBRIS did not exercise effective supervision of the staff supplied to them by MRS.

6. Section 3 (1) of the HSW states, "It shall be the duty of every employer to conduct his undertaking in such a way as to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that persons not in his employment who may be affected thereby are not thereby exposed to risks to their health or safety."

7. Both companies pleaded guilty to their charges at a hearing at City of London Magistrates' Court, London on 16 June 2004. The maximum penalty for a single offence under Section 3(1) in a Crown Court is an unlimited fine.

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