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National Rail Safety Investigations in Australia

National Rail Safety Investigations in Australia . International Rail Safety Conference Vancouver – 2013 6-11 Oct 2013. Tony Simes Manager - Rail Coordinator ATSB. Introduction. Significant reform to rail safety regulation and investigation in Australia. From 20 January 2013

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National Rail Safety Investigations in Australia

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  1. National Rail Safety Investigationsin Australia International Rail Safety Conference Vancouver – 2013 6-11 Oct 2013 Tony Simes Manager - Rail Coordinator ATSB

  2. Introduction • Significant reform to rail safety regulation and investigation in Australia. • From 20 January 2013 • A new national rail safety regulator • A national rail safety investigator – expanded role for the ATSB • The ATSB has also taken on the role as the lead agency receiving notifications for the more serious incidents involving derailment, collision, death and serious injury.

  3. Railways in Australia • Railways in Australia date back to Australia’s early colonial days. • 1831 - first railway in Australia • Newcastle (New South Wales) - privately owned • 1854 - first government owned railway • South Australia 1831 1854

  4. Railways in Australia • Federation of Australia - 1 January 1901 • six colonies along with two federal territories collectively became part the Commonwealth of Australia • Each colony kept their systems of government but a federal government was developed to take responsibility for matters concerning the whole nation. • Individual colonies were very cautious about delegating power to a national government, a condition that exists in Australia to this day. • The vote on federal control of railways was narrowly lost, so the railways remained a State responsibility. • Railways continued to expand, but; • each State adopted different track standards • different track gaugesrequired a change of train for journeys between capital cities.

  5. Railways in Australia • Narrow gauge • (1067 mm or 3 ft. 6 in.) • Standard gauge • (1435 mm or 4 ft. 8 ½ in.) • Broad gauge • (1600 mm or 5 ft. 3 in.) • 1995 - a continuous standard gauge railway was available between all five mainland capital cities • 2004 - to Darwin

  6. Rail Safety Regulation in Australia • 1995 – State based rail safety regulators • Seven different rail safety regulators, each administering different State based laws and processes to regulate safety for Australia’s rail system. • About a third of Australia’s rail industry had operations across multiple States, requiring them to deal with two or more regulators • 2009 - States agree to the establishment of a national regulator • 20 January 2013 - Office of the National Rail Safety Regulator

  7. Rail Safety Investigation in Australia • The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) • Independent from transport regulators, policy makers and service providers • 2003 – National operations over interstate rail network • 20 January 2013 – expanded role to also incorporate metropolitan and intrastate railway lines • Accident Investigations • Aviation • Marine • Rail • Research

  8. Incident notification • 2003 – Rail operators notify one of seven different rail safety regulators • dependent which state the incident occurred • The regulators would on-report the more serious incidents to the ATSB for consideration to investigate • 20 January 2013 – Rail operators notify the more serious incidents directly to the ATSB • Single notification agency nation wide • The ATSB on-reports to the national regulator • More consistent national incident data • Opportunity for better analysis and identification of safety trends and patterns • Opportunity to discover and prevent broader, systemic safety problems

  9. SafetyWatch • In late 2012, the ATSB introduced its SafetyWatchinitiative • SafetyWatch highlights the broad safety concerns that have come out of investigation findings and analysis of incident data. • There are a series of nine identified safety concerns across the aviation, rail and maritime modes of transport in Australia. • Safe work on rail • The ATSB has investigated several accidents that have occurred when maintenance work was being carried out on or near railway tracks

  10. Safeworking incident – Newbridge, NSW Train direction X • May 2010 • A passenger train had just departed Bathurst and was travelling towards Newbridge, a track distance of about 31 km • About 2 minutes later, a work crew was granted authority to work on track about 2 km from Newbridge • After a further 25 minutes, the train approached the work site • An excavator was on track, but due to a curve in the track was not visible to the train driver until about 95 metres away • The train collided with the excavator and a worker was fatally injured Worksite

  11. What the ATSB found • The rules and procedures were generally OK, but in this case; • Neither the Protection Officer nor the Network Control Officer positively identified the location and type of worksite. • Both incorrectly concluded that the train had already passed beyond the limits of the worksite. • The workers accessed the danger zone before additional site protection measures (detonators and flags) had been put in place • The authority form was deficient • Ineffective communication • The workers were relatively inexperienced • Their training had not specifically discuss the relevant hazards and protections

  12. What has been done • Reinforcement of the rules, procedures and training • Revised form that provides for the recording of critical information regarding the location and type of worksite • Safety message • It is essential that information critical to the safe implementation of a work authority be clearly communicated between the Protection Officer and the Network Control Officer. • It is also essential that workers do not access the track until all levels of worksite protection have been fully implemented.

  13. SafetyWatch – Safe work on rail • SafetyWatch provides information and strategies to help manage risk areas along with links to safety resources. • Safe working on track requires a high level of preparation and organisation • Coordination and clear communication are essential • Adequate briefing to the track workers • Ensure that all levels of worksite protection have been fully implemented before commencing work on or near the track • The ATSB will add or remove topics to reflect current information on safety trends and occurrences.

  14. Conclusion • The Australian system of rail safety regulation and investigation has undergone significant reform over recent years. • A national rail safety regulator • ATSB recognized as the national rail safety investigator • A more national focus on rail safety • Rail transport a major role to play in Australia’s national economy • Logical that the safety of a system having such national importance be managed with a national focus • A single point of call for incident notifications • Ability to improve assessment and analysis of incident data • Prevention of broader, systemic safety problems • ATSB has initiated SafetyWatch

  15. Thankyou

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