Workplace Report June 2003

Features: Health & Safety HSE Monitor

HSE report Potters Bar derailment

The HSE published a further progress report into the Potters Bar derailment in May. The derailment on 10 May 2002 claimed seven lives and injured over 70 people.

The report says the most likely underlying cause of the derailment was the poor condition of points, and that this resulted from "inappropriate adjustment and insufficient maintenance for their operating environment and safety functions, probably arising from failures of management systems".

No evidence of sabotage or vandalism has been found, as contractors Jarvis have claimed.

The report can be downloaded at www.hse.gov.uk/railways/pottersbar.htm