Wessex Trains fined £10,000 following injury to fitter

HSE Press Release:E175-04 - 21 December 2004

Wessex Trains has been fined a total of £10,000 following a prosecution brought by the Health and Safety Executive’s (HSE) Railway Inspectorate (HMRI) after an investigation into an incident where a mechanical fitter sustained severe injuries to his hand.

The incident took place at the company’s Exeter depot during the evening of 9 January 2004 when Mr Mark Whitlock was engaged in fault finding work under a Class 153 locomotive. Although the locomotive’s engine had been isolated, the main starter batteries had not. Consequently a person in the locomotive’s cab was able to turn the engine over by pressing an over-ride button, unintentionally trapping Mr Whitlock’s right hand in the locomotive’s ribbed multi-vee auxiliary belt.

The injuries to Mr Whitlock’s right hand were severe; all four fingers were crushed and his little finger has been amputated to the first joint.

Wessex Trains pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 (HSWA) in that it failed to take reasonably practicable precautions to ensure the safety at work of Mr Whitlock and Regulation 3(1) of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 (MHSWR) in that a suitable and sufficient assessment of risks to employees had not been made. The company was fined £7,500 and £2,500 for each breach respectively, and ordered to pay HSE’s costs of £2,283.80.

HMRI investigating inspector, Andrew Knowles said: “HSE prosecuted Wessex Trains as its procedures for carrying out routine fault finding work on a Class 153 diesel rail vehicle were not clearly established, nor were the inherent risks adequately assessed. Additionally, at the time of the incident, maintenance activities at the depot, particularly on the night shift, were inadequately supervised. This allowed systems of work to develop that were unsafe. However, since the incident Wessex Trains has done a good deal of work to address these issues including arrangements to improve supervision, and importantly, training. Unfortunately much of this will not help Mr Whitlock, who is unlikely to do this kind of work again.”

Notes to editors

1. Section 2(1) of HSWA States: “It shall be the duty of every employer to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare at work of all his employees.”
2. Regulation 3(1)(a) of MHSWR states: “Every employer shall make a suitable and sufficient assessment of the risks to the health and safety of his employees to which they are exposed whilst they are at work and for the purpose of identifying the measures he needs to take to comply with the requirements and prohibitions imposed upon him by or under the relevant statutory provisions….”
3. Wessex Trains is the trading name of Wales and West Passenger Trains Ltd.
4. The maximum penalty in the Magistrates’ Court for a single offence of breaching Section 2 of HSWA is a fine of up to £20,000, and the maximum penalty for a single offence of breaching Regulation 3 of MHSWR is a fine of £5,000.
5. 5. Information about HSE’s HMRI can be found on the HSE website at www.hse.gov.uk/railways. HSE’s Annual Report on the safety of the railways in Great Britain during 2003/04 can be found at http://www.hse.gov.uk/railways/annualreport0304/index.htm

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