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A Carlisle rail worker claims he was ^used as a scapegoat^ for a near-miss that almost saw a colleague hit by a 105mph Virgin train.
It happened on June 3 last year on the northbound mainline at Tebay, where the Network Rail team were carrying out routine repairs.
While waiting for their look-out to get in place further up the track, the group breached safety rules by walking up a goods track then starting work on the high-speed main line ^ just seconds before the train went thundering past. After dashing off the rails one member turned back to retrieve his hat from the track.
Michael Howlieson, 39, was the nominated safety officer at the time and was sacked following an investigation. But at a tribunal in Carlisle this week, he claimed he was unfairly dismissed by bosses who wanted someone to bear the blame. He accused them of using him as a scapegoat to ease relations with Virgin trains ^ whose driver reported the near-miss accident.
He also claimed the company^s safety systems were flawed, and said he believed near misses like this happen on the rail network regularly, but simply go unreported.
On the day of the incident, Mr Howlieson was the nominated COSS (Controller of Site Safety), working alongside supervisor Dave Rankin. Although he was at the scene during the near-miss, Mr Howlieson did not go on the track. He claims it was Mr Rankin who led the team onto the mainline, knowing there was no look-out in place.
He said that his boss was keen to ^crack on^ and did not want to wait. It was also him who went back to collect his hat ^ causing the near-miss.
Mr Howlieson claims he was filling in his clipboard when he heard his supervisor suggest they do a quick repair. The others followed him onto the track but seconds later they heard the train and quickly moved off again.
Afterwards the whole group breached more rules by walking across the north and southbound main lines to safety.
Mr Howlieson said he was looking down so didn^t see Mr Rankin go back for his hat. In fact, he claims he didn^t even know there had been a near miss until he saw the video footage ^ which is why he didn^t report the incident.
Mr Howlieson added that all of the men who went on the track knew that there was no look-out and they were breaching safety procedure.
Mr Rankin quit before his disciplinary hearing and Mr Howlieson was subsequently sacked for ^gross misconduct^. The other team members were given final warning letters and demoted.
Mr Howlieson accepted that he had broken the rules and though he didn^t authorise anyone to go on the track, he allowed it to happen.
But he believes he deserves the same punishment as the others ^ who breached the same rules and went one step further by going onto the track ^ yet were not dismissed.
However, Network Rail argues that his punishment was more severe because as the nominated COSS that day, he was responsible for the whole group.
The tribunal will reach a verdict in the coming weeks.

The four workers killed in 2004 by a runaway wagon at Tebay will be remembered [today]

The last union commemoration of the Tebay rail tragedy will take place at midday today.

Twelve years ago, four railway workers on the West Coast Main Line were killed by a runaway wagon near Tebay, Cumbria.

Colin Buckley, 49, Darren Burgess, 30, Gary Tindall, 46, and Chris Waters, 53, have been remembered with an annual ceremony around the anniversary of the tragedy, February 15.

Their families and friends will congregate today.

A trailer secured only by blocks of wood had started rolling down the track in the early hours, killing the four men and injuring another five.

Mark Connolly, 44, of Anglesey, and Roy Kennett, 29, of Maidstone, Kent, two subcontractors for Network Rail, were found guilty of manslaughter through gross negligence at Newcastle Crown Court in 2006, and jailed for seven and two years respectively.

Ahead of the commemoration, Mick Cash, the secretary general of the RMT, blamed privatisation for the tragedy and pledged to fight for rail workers^ safety.

He said: "Tebay was not simply an accident despite what some have attempted to claim.

"The events of that night came about as a direct result of the privatisation and fragmentation of our railways.

"Those dangers still exist on the railway today and RMT continues the fight for proper protection systems to be introduced right across the network and we are at last making some important progress on that very basic demand.

"Twelve years after Tebay, we still have a mess of contractors, subcontractors and a host of labour-only agencies ^ often using zero hour contracts in a race to the bottom. That^s a breeding ground for over-riding core safety considerations and it must end.

[continues]

From Chronicle Live (http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/tebay-rail-accident-commemorated-union-10887964?)


I find myself somewhat confused as to whether or not it's right for Mr Cash to be making what could be seen as political points at such a commemoration. Part of me feel it's not in the best of taste, yet part of me feels it's the very time ...

Man convicted over rail deaths refused HGV licence

A man convicted of the manslaughter of rail workers has been refused a licence to operate heavy goods vehicles.

Mark Connolly had applied to operate HGVs from Greenfield Industrial Estate in Holywell but was denied by the Traffic Commissioner for Wales after being deemed unfit to hold a licence.

Mr Connolly, 55, was convicted for the manslaughter of four rail workers in 2004 and in a written decision issued following a public inquiry, Traffic Commissioner Nick Jones said he was “wholly unimpressed” by the applicant.

He said: “It is clear that the convictions resulting in four separate seven-year prison sentences for manslaughter arose from his business that included HGV transport. Mark Connolly’s approach to a highly dangerous safety critical environment demonstrated the grossest of negligence.”

The regulator added that Mr Connolly’s evidence at the hearing had given an indication of his approach to road safety.

During the inquiry the Traffic Commissioner also heard evidence from the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA).

A traffic examiner reported that a vehicle being driven by Mark Connolly was stopped on the A4087 Caernarfon at Bangor on May 28, 2016. The vehicle was not displaying a valid operator’s licence.

Mr Connolly told the DVSA officer that he was using the vehicle to undertake recovery work, which is exempt from operator licensing. However, the examiner found there were no specific features to identify the vehicle as a recovery vehicle and therefore he did need an operator’s licence to legally undertake the journey.

Prior to being convicted, Mr Connolly had held an operator’s licence to cover his work involving HGVs so was aware of operator licensing requirements.

In his written decision, Mr Jones noted that the convictions were not spent and therefore affected his fitness to hold an operator’s licence.  He said: “I remind myself that it is for the applicant to satisfy me that he is fit to hold an operator’s licence.  Reflecting on the totality of the evidence and on my assessment of Mark Connolly, he falls woefully short of the standard required.”