RAIB has today released its report into a runaway hand trolley at Ramsbottom, East Lancashire Railway, on 15 March 2018.

Summary

At around 11:15 hrs on Thursday 15 March 2018 a hand trolley, loaded with approximately 0.5 tonnes of ballast, ran away from a group of track workers near to Ramsbottom station on the East Lancashire Railway. The trolley derailed when it struck a wooden level crossing gate. The gate was pushed into a road which was open to road traffic.

There were no injuries, although the level crossing gate was damaged.

The immediate cause of the runaway was that the trolley was not fitted with any brakes and was deployed on a gradient without the introduction of any mitigation or safeguard against it running away.

The unbraked trolley was almost certainly available for use because it had been donated to the East Lancashire Railway, which did not have any processes in place to manage donations, and no controls in place for use of trolleys during track maintenance. Additionally, there were no constraints on the use of such trolleys on the railway, nor any competence and training requirements for their operators.

There was no assessment of the risks of using the trolley, either generically or for the specific task on the day, and there was no formal training or briefing of the operators on the day.

The underlying factors were inadequate management systems in the Permanent Way department and, probably, a lack of Safety Management System compliance audits.

Recommendations

The RAIB has made three recommendations as a result of this investigation. The first is made to the Heritage Railway Association and relates to it issuing guidance to its members on limiting the use of trolleys not fitted with fail-safe brakes, and fully assessing the risks where they are to be used. The other two are made to East Lancashire Railway; the first relates to the provision of suitable working procedures in the Permanent Way department, and the other to the implementation of an effective audit process.

The RAIB has also identified three learning points. These relate to the importance of undertaking planned audit and compliance activities; being clear about how vehicles and trolleys are to be controlled before they are deployed; and considering the safety risks associated with assets that are acquired through donations.

Notes to editors

1. The sole purpose of RAIB investigations is to prevent future accidents and incidents and improve railway safety. RAIB does not establish blame, liability or carry out prosecutions.

2. RAIB operates, as far as possible, in an open and transparent manner. While our investigations are completely independent of the railway industry, we do maintain close liaison with railway companies and if we discover matters that may affect the safety of the railway, we make sure that information about them is circulated to the right people as soon as possible, and certainly long before publication of our final report.

3. For media enquiries, please call 01932 440015.

Newsdate: 12 November 2018

This reminder comes after a UK resident sadly died after becoming infected with rabies following a cat bite during a visit to Morocco. There is no risk to the wider public in relation to this case but, as a precautionary measure, health workers and close contacts are being assessed and offered vaccination when necessary.

Rabies is passed on through injuries such as bites and scratches from an infected animal. There are no documented instances of direct human to human transmission.

Rabies does not circulate in either wild or domestic animals in the UK, although some species of bats can carry a rabies-like virus. Human rabies is extremely rare in the UK. No human cases of rabies acquired in the UK from animals other than bats have been reported since 1902. A single case of human rabies acquired from a bat was reported in 2002 in Scotland; this individual had sustained a number of bat bites. 5 cases of human rabies associated with animal exposures abroad occurred between 2000 and 2017.

Rabies is common in other parts of the world, especially in Asia and Africa. All travellers to rabies affected countries should avoid contact with dogs, cats and other animals wherever possible, and seek advice about the need for rabies vaccine prior to travel.

Anyone who has been bitten, scratched, or licked by an animal in a country with rabies, or has had direct contact with a bat in this country, should take immediate action by washing the wound or site of exposure with plenty of soap and water. Local medical advice should be sought without delay, even in those who have been previously vaccinated.

When given promptly after an exposure, a course of rabies vaccine is extremely effective at preventing the disease. If such an exposure occurs abroad, the traveller should also consult their doctor on return, so that the course of rabies treatment can be completed. If travellers have not sought medical advice abroad, they should contact their doctor promptly upon return for assessment.

Dr Mary Ramsay, Head of Immunisations at PHE said:

This is an important reminder of the precautions people should take when travelling to countries where rabies is present. If you are bitten, scratched or licked by an animal you must wash the wound or site of exposure with plenty of soap and water and seek medical advice without delay.

There is no risk to the wider public in relation to this case but, as a precautionary measure, health workers and close contacts are being assessed and offered vaccination when necessary.

For more information on the risk of rabies in different countries, see the country information pages on the National Travel Health Network and Centre’s (NaTHNaC’s) website, TravelHealthPro.

For more general information about rabies, see the NHS website.

For more information about the risk of rabies in bats in the UK see PHE’s information for individuals who have been bitten by bats.

Rabies is a very serious viral infection that affects the brain and central nervous system. It is called a ‘zoonotic’ infection, which means it passes from animals to humans. The virus is transmitted to humans through animal bites, and can’t spread through physical contact or airborne means in the way that other zoonotic infections can.

This means it does not spread from human to human. Despite around 59,000 cases of rabies globally each year, there has yet to be a single confirmed case of human-to-human transmission, with the rare exception of when tissue or organs from a person who has died from rabies have been transplanted into another person.

Initial symptoms can include anxiety, headaches and fever. As the disease progresses, there may be hallucinations and respiratory failure. Spasms of the muscles used for swallowing make it difficult for the patient to drink. The incubation period between being infected and showing symptoms is between 3 and 12 weeks, depending on the site of the initial infection.

Once symptoms have developed, rabies is almost always fatal.

The UK has been rabies-free since the beginning of the 20th century, with the exception of rabies-like viruses in some wild bat species. The last recorded rabies case in the UK was in 2012. In that instance, the individual was bitten by a dog in South Asia.

Hemant Patel was born and educated in London before graduating from the University of Manchester having studied Physics with Astrophysics. He then moved into industry to train as a chartered management accountant.

He has worked at various multi-national companies including Mars Inc and SC Johnson in financial, commercial and marketing roles before moving with his family to Yorkshire to join Asda in 2003. At Asda, Hemant carried out various roles in finance including Commercial Finance Director and Retail Finance Director as well as running Asda’s own label business and leading business reinvention as Director of Strategy.

Hemant then moved on to be Director of Online at the financial service provider, Provident Financial plc, with responsibility for their online loans businesses. Latterly he was Finance Director of the Pub Co at Greene King plc, leading the finance function for the business’s 1,700 managed pubs. He has just become Finance Director of Premier Inn and Restaurants at Whitbread plc.

Until 2017, Hemant was chairman of Interplay Theatre, a Leeds based company using the arts to work with children in special schools nationally and socially excluded children locally. He was given the Arts and Business Individual of the Year award in 2007 for his work with this charity.

Hemant was lead non-executive director and is Chairman of the Royal Armouries Trading and Enterprises Ltd Board as well as the Royal Armouries Audit and Finance and Capital Development Committees. He became a trustee of the Royal Armouries in July 2010.

This appointment has been made in accordance with the Cabinet Office’s Governance Code on Public Appointments. The appointments process is regulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments. Under the Code, any significant political activity undertaken by an appointee in the last five years must be declared. This is defined as including holding office, public speaking, making a recordable donation, or candidature for election. Hemant has declared no such political activity.