ORR, RAIB, RSSB ANNUAL HEALTH AND SAFETY REPORTS 2024/25
Summary of these reports is as follows:
1) ORR Annual report of health and safety on Britain’s railways 2024 to 2025
https://www.orr.gov.uk/annual-report-health-and-safety-britains-railways-2024-2025
The main message from Richard Hines, ORR Chief Inspector in his forward to the annual report, is that as much of the industry transitions towards GBR he did not want safety to slip off the agenda as preparations for took up increasingly more focus/or for gaps to emerge, he writes “Safety must remain the guiding principle throughout this period of change”.
Included in his key reflections of the year are the following:
Network Rail
NWR ‘maintained good h&s during the year’. There was progress made in addressing overdue assessments for structures and dealing with weather related risks – although this was delivered in context of focussed regulator attention.
Train accidents broadly the same as other years, but there were:
Adhesion related events
Audenshaw freight train derailment, Sept 2024, which caused a lot of infrastructure damage and the subsequent investigation bought to their attention shortcomings in track maintenance practices which have the subject of targeted ORR enforcement action,
NWR OH have done some good work, but still more to do around welding fumes.
Level crossings still a problem.
Most significant accident was head on at Talerddig, one passenger facility and multiple injuries. This accident showed that even with ETCS (expected to reduce SPADs and over speeding), problems such as low adhesion or equipment failure remain. As there was one train was unable to stop despite ETCS controls, due to low adhesion controls.
Earthworks problems are an issue, and STFs are main cause of accidents.
ORR raise concerns in their report about NWR delay in proposed changes to fatigue standards. Which has been paused to all for further data gathering and review.
Mainline TOC and freight
SPADs increase, but number of high-risk events remain stable.
Not all employers carrying out completion of post incident SPAD reports. Meaning that industry cannot learn lessons. This is a problem given the potential catastrophic consequences of a fatality. ORR are chasing this.
ORR published their FRMS doc last August, the guidance they received is positive, - but they write that more training (especially for those design rosters and managing safety critical staff), monitoring and the use of meaningful performance indicators is necessary. Operators systems not yet mature, tend to focus on plan and do changes – but there is clear understanding of the need to move away from Hidden.
Non-mainline
ORR focused on LU’s maintenance of ageing building assets – particularly relating to water ingress.
Workforce health, safety and welfare
Violence at work
Incidence of V@W towards staff continues to rise – ORR write that this is mainly criminal matter – for BTP, but that ORR will continue to work with industry and TUC to identify safety based preventing strategies and share good practice.
Fatigue
This continues to be a regulatory priority for ORR. Their inspections have assessed operators’ fatigue management frameworks – particularly for drivers and controllers, with focus on shift patterns overtime controls and real time monitoring.
Welfare
Will form part of all ORR inspections during 2025 to 2026.
2) RSSB Annual Health and Safety report
SPADs. Rose by 6% on previous year, to 306.
Over speeding continues to be a problem. And it likely to be underreporting as automatic systems recording this do not cover all areas.
Fatigue, is widespread in rail industry. Fatigue survey showed that 47% of respondents had to make an effort to stay awake at least once a week. ORRs review of FRMS should assist in dealing with this.
Occupational health and safety
One workplace fatality – Jorge Ortega. Overall, harm from assaults was 17% up on last year.
Track worker harm is mainly caused by STFs.
Near misses involving track workers reached historic lows. With 50% reduction in the number of near misses compared to last year. Near misses between track workers and trains are now around 2.5 times less likely to occur than they were 5 years ago.
But this has meant more line blockages and as a result there have more irregularities – failure to apply protection or correctly lay it. And there have seen cases of staff working outside protection limits.
Freight
After a couple of years of improvement – there has been an increase in freight derailment this year. 6 on the running line in this reporting period, which more that the last 3 years combined. Audenshaw – September 2024, freight train derailment, caused significant damage being investigated by RAIB.
There were 64 SPADS involving freight trains in 2023/24. 9% increase on last year. Increase mainly on running line – as they encounter more reds than passenger trains.
Passenger and staff assaults
In 2024/25 there were 237 lost time incidents as a result of WRV, and 18% increase since last year. Mostly to platform and station staff, these account for 57% or all assaults reported.
Health and wellbeing
MSKs account for highest proportion of sickness absences. Including back problems, injuries or fractures and other other MSD.
3) RAIB Annual Report 2024 (published 2025)
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/raib-annual-report-2024-published-2025
Track worker safety
RAIB explain that NR has reduced the amount of track work carried out on or close to open lines using unassisted look out protection to almost zero. Industry reports there are now around 60% fewer track worker near missed than iun2018/19 – however the downward trend has flattened and very near missed still occur.
RAIB explain that with more lines blocked to traffic this means that that SSoW and accurate briefings and continuous presence of controller of the site safety with their group are very important. RAIB investigated the safety digests in 2024 relating to track workers safety near misses (Fishguard, Euxton Junction Littlehempston) – and there was an investigation into a couple of near misses, at Chiltern Green and Morton Junction.
Platform safety
Accidents have occurred on mainline railway, metros and tram ways, final safety check is very important. In 2024 RAIB published one report covering two trap and drag accidents on the LU Northern Line, one at Archway and the other at Chalk form and a safety digest covering and incident at Enfield.
Overspeeding incidents
Spital Junction – 76 over 30mph. Shortly afterwards the same thing happened.
Examples of not learning from accidents. And although we have become sophisticated managing risk- we learn from accidents. RAIB are concerned that industry are not doing this sufficiently. This is not just problems on mainline, but also on LU for example case at Clapham Common when passengers self-evacuated in May 2023, was the LU did not full learn and apply lessons from similar incident at Holland Park station in 2013.
Carmont
Of significance is that the RAIB report shows that 8 out of the total 20 recommendations that they made in the Carmont investigation are still open. These are on new works and maintenance processes, drainage design, control room capability, management assurance of control room functions, learning from previous events, risk assessment of mitigating controls, derailment mitigation, corrosion limits and pre-1994 crash worthiness.
Talerddig
Re the accident at Talerddig and SPADs/serious incidents etc..
This accident showed that even with ETCS (which is expected to reduce SPADs and over speeding), problems such as low adhesion or equipment failure remain. As there was one train was unable to stop despite ETCS, due to there being low adhesion controls. RAIB have published their interim report on the accident. It is silent on whether catch points could have prevented the accident, or indeed if there were catch points, these were taken out when ERTMS was put in (thereby avoiding having to maintain them). Will look out for RAIB full report to see if they address this issue then.
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