Terrifying "near miss" on Offaly railway line outlined in rail watchdog report

An Iarnród Éireann employee who was patrolling the railway line near Cloneygowan in county Offaly last November reached a position of safety “less than three seconds” before a train travelling at 127km/h passed by.

The terrifying incident – during which the rail employee had his back to the train - is one of eight near misses recorded by the Railway Accident Investigation Unit (RAIU) in its latest report, which covers a period of three years.

The findings of the report have prompted the investigation unit to issue Iarnród Éireann with an urgent safety advice notice, recommending that immediate action be taken to protect workers accessing train lines. They state that a safe system of work “cannot be achieved” for staff working alone without a lookout on almost 50% of the rail network.

The 24-page report from the RAIU concluded that Iarnród Éireann was not discharging its duties fully under both the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 and the Railway Safety Act 2005, and called on the company to immediately cease the practice of staff patrolling track alone where minimum sighting distances cannot be met.

Among the five recommendations outlined in the report is one calling on Iarnród Éireann to review its track inspection methods to introduce “technological/mechanised systems” with a view to eliminating or minimising the need for track parolling. Where staff must access the live railway “effective safety measures (technological/ mechanised systems) should be implemented to eliminate/ minimise track worker exposure to railway hazards” the report states.

Although the report notes that “no injuries were reported” as a result of the eight near misses recorded, the RAIU said these incidents pose “a serious risk to members of staff on the railway line who could be hit by trains, causing injuries or fatalities” to one or more members of staff.

The report also noted that almost 10% of the existing rail network has quarter-mile sections classified as “very high risk” and an additional 37% classified as “high risk” in relation to sighting distance, availability of safe positions and train frequency.

In relation to its failure to discharge its duties fully under both the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 and the Railway Safety Act 2005, the Railway Accident Investigation Unit report concluded that Iarnród Éireann has not reduced the risks to staff to a level that is “as low as reasonably practicable” by failing to provide a place of work that is “safe and without risk to health”; failing to adequately control and mitigate the “known hazards” associated with track patrolling and by accepting “an avoidable level of risk” in relation to track patrolling.