Network Rail fined £20,000 following cable strike

HSE Press Release: E153:04 - 1 November 2004

Network Rail Infrastructure Ltd (NRIL) have been fined £20,000 following a prosecution brought by the Health and Safety Executive's HM Railway Inspectorate (HMRI) after lineside workers hit a buried 11,000 volt cable.

The incident took place during lineside maintenance work at Bargoed, Mid Glamorgan, on 11 June 2003. No injuries resulting from the cable strike, however the potential existed for serious injury and fatality from contact with high-energy cables.

NRIL pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3 (1) of the Heath and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (HSW Act) at Abertillery Magistrates' Court, Gwent, on Friday 29 October 2004. HSE alleged that NRIL had failed to ensure that employees of a groundworks contractor were not exposed to risks to their health and safety arising from the disruption of buried high energy cables while undertaking underground penetration works on land under NRIL's control. NRIL was also ordered to pay HSE's costs of £6,519.13.

Wayne Miles, HMRI inspector who investigated the incident, said: "Following earlier enforcement action by HSE, NRIL had developed not only a company-wide procedure, but more specifically, a Great Western Zone procedure to minimise the risk of incidents of this nature. However, NRIL failed to apply this procedure to outside parties, such as contractors, to whom it granted strictly controlled access to its infrastructure.

"If the procedure had been applied the contractor would have been better informed about
the full extent of buried services. This would have provoked further, cautious investigation before any drilling commenced. Companies should ensure that safe working procedures are clearly communicated to all affected parties, and fully implemented, as failure could have potentially disastrous consequences."

Notes to editors

1. Section 3 (1) of the HSW Act 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."

2. The maximum penalty in a Magistrates' Court for a single offence under Section 3 (1) is a fine of up to £20,000.

3. HSE's Annual Report on the safety record of the railways in Great Britain during 2003/04.

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