Right Track 50: passing the safety knowledge baton
Many of you will know Mike Roberts, a railway chaplain who works out of Preston station. He makes his Right Track debut in this issue, penning our corporate memory column.
Mike’s focus is on our own experiences on the railway, which become the corporate memory of the future. And in the future, people will learn from what we’ve learned today.
With this in mind, GB Railfreight’s Bessie Matthews describes a challenging day at work, during which her train struck a deer on the line. It was a tough moment for Bessie, and tough for her locomotive, which lost power as a result. Proper procedure meant that a Thunderbird locomotive came to the rescue, was soon hooked on, and the train was promptly back in service.
Network Rail’s Justin Willett returns to share a story from his driving career. The experience he recounts influenced how he trained new drivers under his care. This is an excellent example of how the baton is passed on from one generation to the next.
Elsewhere, RSSB’s Barbara Smith describes what to expect from post-incident interviews. Meanwhile, our RAIB report brief draws out the learning points from the tree strike that occurred in Dundee in December 2023. One of the lessons involves accurate reporting when incidents occur. That’s a must if we’re to spot trends and stop similar incidents happening in the future.
