Firms fined over Hatfield crash

[Henk Elegeert]

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Firms fined over Hatfield crash

Two firms have been fined a total of £13.5m for breaching health and
safety regulations over the 2000 Hatfield train crash, in which four
people died.

Network Rail, formerly Railtrack, was fined £3.5m - the highest ever for
a rail firm on health and safety grounds.

Maintenance firm Balfour Beatty was fined £10m. They were ordered to pay
£300,000 each in costs.

The eight-month Old Bailey trial had heard the 117mph derailment was
caused by a cracked section of the track.

The crash, involving the London to Leeds express train, also left 102
injured.

The £8m trial had heard a backlog of essential work had been allowed to
accumulate, and the rail had been identified for repair 21 months earlier.

Balfour Beatty apologised for its role in the crash.

'Indefensible practice'

Garry Fellows, who was severely injured in the crash, said he hoped the
money would be spent on improving the railways.

"I think that would only be some form of justice," he said.

Fining the firms, the judge had been particularly critical of the
construction giant and its inspection regime, saying it simply was not
effective.

Mr Justice Mackay said in his 30 years in the legal profession he
regarded the company's failure as the "worst example of sustained
industrial negligence in a high-risk industry he had ever seen".

It was disclosed the track was checked from an inadequate vantage point
and so inspectors were unable to see faults.

The judge called it an "indefensible practice".

Commenting on the smaller £3.5m fine for Network Rail, he said: "Every
pound spent on a fine can't be spent on rail safety."

Balfour Beatty and five rail executives had also faced charges of
corporate manslaughter but were formally cleared by the judge due to
lack of evidence.

On Tuesday, prosecutors dropped the case against four Balfour Beatty
workers still facing charges over the crash.

'Tragedy for all'

Responding to its fine, Balfour Beatty said: "Hatfield was a tragedy and
our thoughts remain with the bereaved families and with those injured
and otherwise affected by it."

By entering a guilty plea, the company said, it had accepted
inadequacies in its patrolling and inspection activities, "for which it
apologises".

"It is, however, clear that the accident arose as a result of a systemic
failure of the industry as a whole."

Chairman of Network Rail Ian McAllister said: "The Hatfield accident was
a tragedy for all concerned. And no amount of fine can offset the hurt
and distress caused to the relatives of those who died and also to the
injured.

"But I also think you have to remember that the railways since then have
changed fundamentally."

He said maintenance had been brought in house and new technology
introduced which had "changed the mentality of the industry away from
find and fix to one of predict and prevent".

"And the reason we have done that is in order to reduce the risk of an
incident like Hatfield ever happening again," he added. "And we believe
we have minimised that risk."

The train operator GNER, whose train was involved in the crash, said
that it would not be making any comment.

The severity of the fines imposed on the two companies were welcomed by
the Safe Trains Action Group (Stag).

Stag vice chairman Carol Bell said: "We have said that there have to be
bigger, swingeing fines for companies and it's good to see that there
have been in this case.

"The size of these fines sends a message to companies that they must
take full regard of safety."

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/uk/4318994.stm

Published: 2005/10/07 11:50:37 GMT

© BBC MMV

"
The railways since then have changed fundamentally
Ian McAllister, Network Rail"

"
The size of these fines sends a message to companies that they must take
full regard of safety
Carol Bell Safe Trains Action Group
"
"

Zomaar benieuwd wat er in dit land zou gebeuren .....
Nog een bijbaantje op afstand voor nog iemand van het Koninklijk Huis?

Henk Elegeert

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