News Releases
Balfour Beatty And The Hatfield Derailment
24 Jan 2001The second interim report of the Health & Safety Executive’s investigation into the October 17th Hatfield derailment was published yesterday.
This report restricted itself largely to the immediate cause of the accident, which was confirmed as the fracture and subsequent fragmentation of the rail.
The HSE’s remit also includes:
- What remedial action needs to be taken to prevent a further accident?
- Does what was done or not done merit action (including prosecution)?
The investigations of the British Transport Police and the Health & Safety Executive into the events and circumstances leading up to the accident are still at very early stages. The separately constituted industry investigation has been under way since November and is on-going. Balfour Beatty continues to offer full co-operation to all the authorities investigating the Hatfield accident.
Recent press and broadcast reports have speculated about the potential for Balfour Beatty executives to be prosecuted in respect of the Hatfield derailment and for the company to be subject to substantial fines. Both the British Transport Police and the Health & Safety Executive have made it clear that their investigations under way in respect of the derailment have a long way to run and much ground still to cover before any decisions on possible prosecutions can be taken and that, in the meantime, all speculation on the subject is premature.
Some recent media reports have also failed to reflect accurately the responsibilities of the contracted parties in respect of the East Coast Main Line in implying or wrongly stating a Balfour Beatty responsibility for replacing the track in the event of required renewal. In the case of the East Coast Main Line, the renewals responsibility lies with Railtrack in conjunction with its renewals contractor, Jarvis Fastline. Balfour Beatty acted, as required under its maintenance contract, in proposing replacement of the section of rail in question in December of 1999. Only the first part of the rerailing recommended by Balfour Beatty at that time at the site of the accident had been completed at the time of the accident.
Some reports also include an inaccurate assertion that the Railtrack group standards in operation prior to the Hatfield accident automatically required the imposition of a temporary speed restriction by the maintenance contractor in the case of gauge corner cracking. No such group standards were in operation prior to the Hatfield accident.
ENDS
Enquiries to:
Tim Sharp
Tel: +44 (0)20 7216 6884
