Severn Valley Railway fined after worker seriously injured in incident

The Office of Rail and Road has announced that the Severn Valley Railway has been fined £40,000 after pleading guilty to breaches of the Working at Height Regulations 2005.

The incident happened on 22 February 2021 when a lone worker, who was not wearing a safety harness, was repainting a Mark 1 carriage at Bridgnorth Rail Works.

The worker suffered neck injuries and six fractures in his lower back after falling about 13 feet, hitting a metal storage cabinet before landing on a concrete floor.

Following an investigation, it was found that the heritage railway, which runs from Kidderminster to Bridgnorth, had no protection standards for staff working at height and that no instruction or supervision was provided when the repainting work was carried out.

District Judge Strongman said the defendant “fell woefully short of the standards expected.”

“This is another preventable incident involving working at height on a heritage railway which has resulted in very serious injuries. My thoughts are with the person affected.

“Our inspectors have recently met with heritage operators across the sector to reinforce expectations of them regarding proportionate safety measures to be followed when carrying out these maintenance tasks, as, unfortunately, these types of incidents remain all too common. Poor standards are unacceptable and will not be tolerated.”

Richard Hines, Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Railways