The Director General of the HSE eventually replied on the 29th October | ||
Ms Jenny Bacon wrote | My comments (with benefit of further information from Railtrack) | |
Thank you for your letter of 15 October - the first I received from you - about the condition of railway bridge 176 at Witham, Essex. |
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The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is acting to ensure that Railtrack fulfills its responsibility to maintain its bridges and other structures to an acceptable standard. You wrote to our Railway Inspectorate in August and they immediately sought information from Railtrack on the result of their periodic examinations of this bridge. Railtrack have now informed us that they visually inspected the bridge during October 1997, and again during September 1998, as part of their inspection and maintenance regime. This regime comprises annual bridge inspections with more exhaustive examinations every six years. A full detailed examination is scheduled for June 1999. |
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Following the last inspection in September 1998, Railtrack considered that no urgent remedial action was necessary. This was confirmed by structural engineers who visited the bridge at the request of HSE on 23 October. |
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Railtrack has also confirmed that the structure of the bridge is safe for use by the operating railway and poses no threat to the safety of pedestrians. |
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As part of our enquiries one of our inspectors has also visited the site. HSE is satisfied that Railtrack has taken appropriate action on Bridge No. 176. We will continue to monitor Railtrack's management of its infrastructure. |
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I hope this is helpful. | . | |
So it takes six weeks and two letters for the HSE to investigate reports of a cracked bridge. Remember that until the 24th September nobody had the foggiest idea if this was safe. |
On the 7th November I ask if the HSE think this matter has been dealt with correctly | |
Thank you for your letter of the 29th October. I am sure the people living adjacent to the railway here will be pleased to know that the bridge is safe. However they might be less content with the time that it has taken for the matter to be addressed.
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A letter received from Railtrack on the 20th November reveals... | |
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So that's alright then - We ignored a safety warning but we apologise.
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Now the HSE starts to show its true colours... | ||
Ms Jenny Bacon wrote | My comments | |
Thank you for your further letter of 9 November about the condition of railway bridge No. 176 at Witham. | . | |
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has no powers to intervene in the way Railtrack PLC deals with complaints from members of the public, unless there is clear evidence that it is not meeting its statutory obligation to maintain the railway infrastructure in a safe manner. I regret that I cannot comment on the manner in which the company dealt with your initial enquiry. As I mentioned in my letter of 29 October, Railtrack had carried out an inspection of the bridge in October 1997 and before HSE's intervention, had scheduled a further visual inspection for September 1998. They subsequently re-inspected the bridge at our request in October. The time-scale of their response appears to have been reasonable. |
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You also expressed concern at the qualifications of those undertaking the various inspections. This is primarily a matter for Railtrack and, if you should wish to pursue this further, please contact Railtrack East Anglia zone; they will also be able to provide you with a copy of the October report. The Railtrack personnel who inspected the bridge in October are Chartered Engineers with substantial railway engineering experience. |
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HSE is satisfied that bridge No 176 is in a safe condition. I am copying this letter and previous correspondence to Mr Alan Hurst MP for his information. |
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No comment about ignoring warnings
The delay of many weeks "appears to have been reasonable"
Having commissioned a report, why doesn't the HSE answer questions
about the assessment of risk and the appropriatness of the methods used |