Railway Accident Investigation Guidelines for Rail Transport Operators Police and Emergency Services Personnel
Summary
The first persons arriving at a railway accident site can render
valuable assistance to minimise injury and loss of life, reduce
property loss through damage, and prevent loss of clues and
evidence that can identify the factors that contributed to the
accident.
Often Police and Emergency Services and representatives of the
Railway Network Owner and/or Railway Operator are the first trained
personnel to arrive at railway accident sites. In addition,
supervisory officers coordinate response and recovery from
locations off-site. These guidelines have been prepared by the
Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) to assist these people to
understand better the essential procedures and the requirements of
the Transport Safety Investigation Act 2003 (TSI
Act).
The ATSB has jurisdiction to investigate rail accidents on the
Defined Interstate Railway Network (DIRN). Before exercising its
jurisdiction, the ATSB will assess each accident on the DIRN to
determine whether or not it will conduct an investigation. The
participation of other parties in the ATSB investigation will be to
the extent necessary to enable all the underlying factors of a rail
safety occurrence to be determined in accordance with the TSI
Act.
In addition to general information relating to railway accident
sites, a checklist has been included with this booklet to guide
response personnel and supervisory officers. The checklist should
assist personnel in undertaking the essential actions in an
environment that can easily become disorganised.
As soon as possible after receiving a report of a rail safety
occurrence, the ATSB will advise relevant parties whether or not
the ATSB will investigate. If there is to be an investigation, the
ATSB will liaise with other parties such as the designated accident
site coordinator to ensure that evidence is effectively secured or
recorded, pending an ATSB investigator's arrival on site. The ATSB
undertakes to allow restoration of railway operations as soon as
possible once the accident site has been examined and evidence
collected.
Type: | Safety Education Material |
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Series number: | 3 |
Publication date: | 3 September 2010 |
ISBN: | 978-1-921164-71-2 |
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