107-566: Established in 1840, His Majesty's Railway Inspectorate ( HMRI ) is the organisation responsible for overseeing safety on Britain 's railways and tramways . It was previously a separate non-departmental public body , but from 1990 to April 2006 it was part of the Health and Safety Executive . It was then transferred to the Office of Rail and Road and ceased to exist by that name in May 2009 when it
214-603: A branch to Hyde from Newton , on the main line on 1 March 1858. Newton station had been called Newton & Hyde (now Hyde North), and an omnibus service to Hyde itself had been operated at one time. (The Hyde station is now Hyde Central .) Parliamentary sanction was given in 1858 to extend the Hyde branch to Compstall Bridge, then a local centre of industry. In fact the extension was from Hyde to Marple , with intermediate stations at Woodley and Romiley ; it opened on 5 August 1862. A further extension looked advantageous, and this
321-464: A company being inspected. Paragraph 5 meant new works on existing lines were liable to the same inspection regime as new lines. The BoT could now set up a formal court of inquiry to investigate an accident, taking evidence on oath in public hearings. Inspectors investigating an accident were now required to make a formal report to the BoT, which was now empowered to publish reports (from an inspector or from
428-648: A court of inquiry) directly. Subsequent public inquiries under the new powers included those into the Shipton-on-Cherwell train crash in 1874 (chaired by an inspector William Yolland ), and into the Tay Bridge disaster of 1879. However, the procedure fell into abeyance after the failure of the three-man board (of which Yolland, by now chief inspecting officer, was a member) of the Tay Bridge inquiry to arrive at an agreed report. For many years in
535-720: A day were introduced between Sheffield (Bridgehouses) and London (Euston Square) via Beighton, Eckington and the Midland Railway and the LNWR. A considerable step forward was taken when the new Sheffield station (in due course named "Victoria") was opened on 15 September 1851. It was very commodious; the Bridgehouses station was converted to a goods depot. The second bore of the Woodhead tunnel opened for traffic on 2 February 1852; its beneficial effect on train operating
642-408: A desire to die. There is a distinction between products that meet standards, that are safe, and that merely feel safe. The highway safety community uses these terms: Normative safety is achieved when a product or design meets applicable standards and practices for design and construction or manufacture, regardless of the product's actual safety history. Substantive or objective safety occurs when
749-407: A junction unaltered since an 1862 fatal accident, despite an inspector having urged improvements) pressed for such powers: Their Lordships have no control whatever over railways after they are once opened for traffic, however defective and dangerous the structures and permanent way may be, and however imperfectly the construction of junctions and the laying out of altered station yards may provide for
856-477: A line from Huddersfield to Penistone on 1 July 1850; MS&LR passenger trains began to run over it into Huddersfield. The Leverton line, leading towards Lincoln, was opened on 7 August 1850, forming a shortened route between Retford and Lincoln. It was supposed to enable MS&LR trains to run through to Lincoln over the GNR, and in return for the GNR to reach Sheffield; however because of its traffic agreement with
963-635: A member of the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) which had passed all practical tests could be rejected by a railway inspector because he was uncomfortable with its novel design) was criticised by the ICE: "The subject has been discussed in the Institution of Civil Engineers, and every eminent engineer was of the opinion that the Government inspector was clearly wrong". Threatened with a call for
1070-404: A parliamentary enquiry should approval continue to be withheld, the inspectorate reconsidered and approved the bridge un-modified. Subsequently, and consequently, the BoT took the view that (as it explained in defending itself from criticism that the defects in the Tay Bridge should have been seen and acted upon by the inspectorate): "The duty of an inspecting officer, so far as regards design,
1177-732: A particular ANSI standard. Many government agencies set safety standards for matters under their jurisdiction, such as: Product safety testing, for the United States, is largely controlled by the Consumer Product Safety Commission. In addition, workplace related products come under the jurisdiction of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), which certifies independent testing companies as Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratories (NRTL), see. The European Commission provides
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#17327656265091284-608: A responsibility not committed to him by Parliament." Critics at the end of the 1850s also noted that during the Crimean War , the Grand Crimean Central Railway had been built to forward supplies from Balaclava to British siege lines not by the Royal Engineers, but by a consortium of civilian railway contractors. If the government turned to civilians as best fitted to build a military railway,
1391-507: A second bore of the Woodhead Tunnel. The eastward construction from the Bridgehouses terminus across Sheffield was started in May 1847. The MS&LR soon ran short of money, and a loan of £250,000 had to be negotiated; deliveries of locomotives were slowed, as were certain infrastructure improvements; the stations at Dog Lane, Hazlehead, Oxspring and Thurgoland were closed to passenger traffic as from 1 November 1847. One new station
1498-533: A service, Pasley approved them (orally), but some of the new work then proved faulty. In 1849 the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway 's Torksey viaduct across the River Trent was not initially accepted by the railway inspector Lintorn Simmons because he was unhappy with its novel (tubular girder) design by John Fowler . This decision (and also the basic premise that a bridge designed by
1605-586: A warrant by the chief inspector to that effect. Normally an inspector will use the industry Personal Track Safety (PTS) card. However, inspectors have the right, in reasonable circumstances, not to do so. The body originated in 1840, as a result of the Railway Regulation Act 1840 ('Lord Seymour's Act'), when Inspecting Officers of Railways were first appointed by the Board of Trade (BoT). Britain's railways at that time were private companies ;
1712-512: A year. This was accepted and the MS&;LR withdrew its staff. It was a move that the MS&LR came to regret. Financially, 1855 was not a good year for the MS&LR. Trade generally had been adversely affected by the blockade of the Baltic ports , owing to the Crimean War . Passenger traffic showed decreases in all categories except second class. In the same year the maintenance of permanent way
1819-429: Is a normative concept. It complies with situation-specific definitions of what is expected and acceptable. Using this definition, protection from a home's external threats and protection from its internal structural and equipment failures (see Meanings, above) are not two types of safety but rather two aspects of a home's steady state. In the world of everyday affairs, not all goes as planned. Some entity's steady state
1926-498: Is challenged. This is where security science , which is of more recent date, enters. Drawing from the definition of safety, then: Security is the process or means, physical or human, of delaying, preventing, and otherwise protecting against external or internal, defects, dangers, loss, criminals, and other individuals or actions that threaten, hinder or destroy an organization’s "steady state," and deprive it of its intended purpose for being. Using this generic definition of safety it
2033-675: Is involved, and track record indicates some of the areas of theory that are relevant. (In the US, persons with a state license in Professional Engineering in Electrical Engineering are expected to be competent in this regard, the foregoing notwithstanding, but most electrical engineers have no need of the license for their work.) Safety is often seen as one of a group of related disciplines: quality, reliability, availability, maintainability and safety. (Availability
2140-494: Is one where risks of injury or property damage are low and manageable. When something is called safe, this usually means that it is safe within certain reasonable limits and parameters. For example, a medication may be safe, for most people, under most circumstances, if taken in a certain amount. A choice motivated by safety may have other, unsafe consequences. For example, frail elderly people are sometimes moved out of their homes and into hospitals or skilled nursing homes with
2247-473: Is possible to specify the elements of a security program. Safety can be limited in relation to some guarantee or a standard of insurance to the quality and unharmful function of an object or organization. It is used in order to ensure that the object or organization will do only what it is meant to do. It is important to realize that safety is relative. Eliminating all risk , if even possible, would be extremely difficult and very expensive. A safe situation
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#17327656265092354-583: Is sometimes not mentioned, on the principle that it is a simple function of reliability and maintainability.) These issues tend to determine the value of any work, and deficits in any of these areas are considered to result in a cost, beyond the cost of addressing the area in the first place; good management is then expected to minimize total cost. Safety measures are activities and precautions taken to improve safety, i.e. reduce risk related to human health. Common safety measures include: Today there are multiple scientific journals focusing on safety research. Among
2461-413: Is such a term. With time the definitions between these two have often become interchanged, equated, and frequently appear juxtaposed in the same sentence. Readers are left to conclude whether they comprise a redundancy. This confuses the uniqueness that should be reserved for each by itself. When seen as unique, as we intend here, each term will assume its rightful place in influencing and being influenced by
2568-425: Is that safety issues can be readily deduced. In fact, safety issues have been discovered one by one, over more than a century in the case mentioned, in the work of many thousands of practitioners, and cannot be deduced by a single individual over a few decades. A knowledge of the literature, the standards and custom in a field is a critical part of safety engineering. A combination of theory and track record of practices
2675-419: Is to see that the construction is not such as to transgress those rules and precautions which practice and experience have proved to be necessary for safety. If he were to go beyond this, or if he were to make himself responsible for every novel design, and if he were to attempt to introduce new rules and practices not accepted by the profession, he would be removing from the civil engineer, and taking upon himself
2782-504: The 9/11 attacks in 2001, many people chose to drive rather than fly, despite the fact that, even counting terrorist attacks, flying is safer than driving. Perceived risk discourages people from walking and bicycling for transportation, enjoyment or exercise, even though the health benefits outweigh the risk of injury. Perceived safety can drive regulation which increases costs and inconvenience without improving actual safety. Also called social safety or public safety, security addresses
2889-647: The East Lincolnshire Railway (now leased to the Great Northern Railway) was nearing completion too, and both lines opened on 1 March 1848. There was a through train service between New Holland and Louth , operated equally by both companies. A pier 1,500 feet in length had been provided at New Holland, which was the terminal of a ferry service to Hull. It was promised that "the rails of the New Holland line will be continued to
2996-699: The Great Northern Railway and the Midland Railway . Its dominant traffic was minerals, chiefly coal, and the main market was in London and the south of England. It was dependent on other lines to convey traffic southward. The London and North Western Railway was an exceptionally hostile partner, and in later years the MS&LR allied itself with the Great Northern Railway. Passenger traffic, especially around Manchester,
3103-597: The Railway Mania took hold, it became evident that enlargement of the network dominated by a railway company was key to competitive survival, and in 1846 the SA&;MR had been authorised (by the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway Act 1846 ( 9 & 10 Vict. c. cclxviii) of 27 July 1846 ) to amalgamate with three as-yet unbuilt railways: they were: The amalgamation took effect on 1 January 1847, and
3210-665: The River Mersey . It had opened on 21 February 1833, and its route included rope worked inclines. It amalgamated with the Sankey Brook Navigation , forming the St Helens Canal and Railway by an act of Parliament of 21 July 1845. The construction of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway showed that merely acting as a feeder to waterborne transport was no longer competitive. John Meadows Rendel ,
3317-548: The Woodhead Tunnel , a little over 3 miles in length. The line connected with the Manchester and Birmingham Railway at its western end, and had a basic terminus in Sheffield at Bridgehouses . There was a branch from Dinting to Glossop , and another from Guide Bridge to Stalybridge . The SA&MR had been short of money during construction, and the Woodhead Tunnel was built as a single track to save money. As
His Majesty's Railway Inspectorate - Misplaced Pages Continue
3424-410: The 1840 Act required them to report to the BoT all accidents which had caused personal injury: it also gave the inspectorate powers to inspect any railway, and hence from its formation the inspectorate was used to investigate serious railway accidents and report upon them to the BoT. They were tasked with inspecting new lines, and commenting on their suitability for carrying passenger traffic. However,
3531-455: The 1860s, in the first instance, accident reports were internal and only published in the accident returns made from time to time by the Board of Trade to Parliament. For fatal accidents, a coroner's inquest would also be held, which inspectors might attend to hear the evidence, to assist the coroner, or to give evidence themselves of what their investigation had found. In the absence of input from
3638-517: The BoT's annual report to Parliament. Until the late 1960s HMRI's inspecting officers were all recruited from the Corps of Royal Engineers . In the early years of the inspectorate, their competence to adjudicate on civil engineering structures was questioned by critics, sometimes with good reason. A reorganisation of the inspectorate in November 1846 abolished the post of inspector-general, and led to
3745-516: The Euston Square agreement, had been negotiating with the GNR for a territorial division between the two companies, to the detriment of the MS&LR. Dow refers to this as "deplorable duplicity" by Huish. Watkin had a challenge before him; at this time traffic receipts were falling short of fixed obligations by about £1,000 a week. Huish resumed his attempts at coercion. Members of the LNWR and MS&LR boards met at Rugby on 20 July 1854. It
3852-492: The GNR line from Peterborough to Doncaster , connecting with the MS&LR at Retford, as well as the Gainsborough connection, would encourage a co-operation that would abstract traffic from his allies. He manipulated Allport and the MS&LR into joining a traffic agreement that contained clauses hostile to any collaboration with the GNR; this was approved on 16 January 1850. The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway opened
3959-501: The HSE or as mid- career railway employees from the former British Rail . The function of HMRI was to inspect and approve all new (or modified) railway works and to investigate railway accidents . Accident investigations were inquisitorial , generally not open to the public, and aimed to determine the causes behind the accident (both the immediate cause and contributory factors) and to make recommendations to avoid re-occurrence. Until
4066-677: The L&;YR all the goods business. The necessary junctions between the two routes at Stalybridge were ready on 1 July 1849, and on 1 August two new junctions with the London and North Western Railway were brought into use as well, end-on at Stalybridge with the new line from Huddersfield , and at Guide Bridge station, with the line from Heaton Norris . At the end of 1849, the MS&LR network amounted to 159 miles, with an additional 110 miles of canal. The Manchester South Junction and Altrincham Junction Railway had originally been conceived to connect
4173-511: The LNWR, the MS&LR felt obliged to try to frustrate the arrangement. At the end of May 1851 a contract was concluded with the Electric Telegraph Company which, for about £5 per mile per annum, undertook to install lines between Manchester, Sheffield, New Holland, Grimsby and Lincoln, providing not only the equipment but the clerks to operate it at the principal stations. In July 1851 through carriages by three trains
4280-592: The Leverton branch (as the Sheffield and Lincolnshire Extension Railway was now called) and certain dock works at Grimsby. There was an impressive succession of openings: the Barnetby-Lincoln line was opened on 1 February 1849, and the section from Sheffield to Beighton, where a junction was made with the Midland Railway, was opened on 12 February 1849. MS&LR passenger trains ran through to Eckington on
4387-499: The MNM&;HJR at New Mills; it opened on 1 October 1866. This gave the Midland Railway access to the MS&LR system, and thereby to Manchester. The MNM&HJR company was acquired by the MS&LR on 5 July 1865. The MS&LR had sought the support of the LNWR and L&YR for the construction of a south-to-north line from Guide Bridge to Oldham , connecting with those companies' lines. The Oldham, Ashton and Guide Bridge Railway
His Majesty's Railway Inspectorate - Misplaced Pages Continue
4494-531: The MS&LR to cross the River Trent at Gainsborough, and also to enter the eastern end of the Great Northern Railway station at Lincoln by means of a spur from Durham Ox Junction, on the line from Market Rasen. On 1 July 1859 the MS&LR brought into use the Whisker Hill curve at Retford, which enabled its passenger trains to use the Great Northern station: the MS&LR Retford station closed on
4601-615: The MSJ&;AR line formed a strategic link, later enabling the MS&LR to pass Manchester and penetrate westwards. In May 1849, George Hudson , the so-called Railway King, had fallen from power as his underhand methods were exposed. The politics of the large railway companies shifted considerably, as Hudson's successors, particularly Captain Mark Huish of the London and North Western Railway, engaged in schemes to gain advantage over neighbouring lines. The MS&LR directors saw that it
4708-532: The Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway and the London and North Western Railway respectively, so that the MSJ&AR was wholly and equally owned by the MS&LR and the LNWR. The line was to be in two parts. The South Junction part was to connect the London Road station of the LNWR (used by the MS&LR) with the former Liverpool and Manchester Railway (now LNWR) at Ordsall Lane. This connected
4815-509: The Midland Railway from Beighton. A triangular junction was formed at New Holland, leading to a branch to Barton on Humber, opened on 1 March 1849. On 2 April 1849 the section between Brigg and Gainsborough was opened. There was a triangular junction at Ulceby: the eastern side of the triangle had been in use since before July 1848. The final link, from Woodhouse junction, on the Sheffield-Beighton junction section, to Gainsborough,
4922-546: The OA&;GBR was leased to the MS&LR and LNWR. Each subscribed £50,000. By the end of March 1860 the line had been finished between Guide Bridge and the junction with the L&YR near Ashton-under-Lyne, but unusually wet weather delayed the completion of the remainder. On 31 July 1861 the line was opened formally. Passenger trains started running on 26 August, the MS&LR providing the locomotives and carriages; goods traffic did not start until 1 February 1863. Liverpool
5029-782: The ORR, although some Railway Performance and Planning (RPP) engineers have some more limited powers as warranted HMRI individuals. HMRI's role and powers largely mirror the HSE which is the safety regulator in other non-railway industries. HMRI has powers to enter a railway under section 20 of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 . It also issues licensing and drivers' licences under the Railways and Other Guided Transport Systems (Safety) Regulations 2006 (ROGS). HMRI's individuals are drawn from within industry and experienced HSE inspectors. Commonly, individuals are professional engineers or time-served safety professionals. All inspectors are issued
5136-498: The Safety Directorate, was created, but the 180 individual inspectors will continue to be known as His Majesty's Railway Inspectors. A summary of government bodies overseeing HM Railway Inspectorate are shown in the table. Several changes reflect wider government re-organisations. Safety Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to
5243-565: The Sheffield, Ashton under Lyne and Manchester Railway and the Liverpool and Manchester Railway . The Manchester and Birmingham Railway would benefit too from the connection. It was authorised on 21 July 1845 as an independent private company, with three shareholders: the SA&MR, the M&;BR and the Earl of Ellesmere . His share was bought out in 1847 and the two railway companies had merged into
5350-518: The Walton junction. Tyler himself supported the view taken by successive governments: that to take such powers would remove the clarity of existing arrangements, where responsibility for passenger safety lay with the railway companies alone. The death of 80 people on a Sunday school outing in the Armagh rail disaster of 1889 brought a reversal of this policy on the three key issues: within two months of
5457-569: The accident Parliament had enacted the Regulation of Railways Act 1889 , which authorised the Board of Trade to require the use of continuous automatic brakes on passenger railways, along with the block system of signalling and the interlocking of all points and signals. This is often taken as the beginning of the modern era in UK rail safety: "the old happy-go-lucky days of railway working" came to an end. The chief inspecting officer from 1916 to 1929
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#17327656265095564-511: The claim that this will improve the person's safety. The safety provided is that daily medications will be supervised, the person will not need to engage in some potentially risky activities such as climbing stairs or cooking, and if the person falls down, someone there will be able to help the person get back up. However, the end result might be decidedly unsafe, including the dangers of transfer trauma , hospital delirium , elder abuse , hospital-acquired infections , depression, anxiety, and even
5671-494: The combined company was named the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway. It had headquarters at Manchester London Road station . The first board meeting of the amalgamated company took place on 6 January 1847. As well as the railway interest, the new MS&LR acquired a considerable canal network. The Sheffield, Ashton under Lyne and Manchester Railway had acquired three canals in March 1846; they were These canals cost
5778-563: The company £33,608 annually in guaranteed payments to the original proprietors. The Sheffield and Lincolnshire Junction Railway had already purchased the Sheffield Canal and it was vested in the MS&LR on 22 July 1848, and the MS&LR acquired the Chesterfield Canal on 9 July 1847. In 1847 the railway network of the MS&LR consisted of nothing more than the network of the SA&MR, with one small addition. On
5885-468: The complete neglect exhibited towards Captain Tyler 's recommendations; and the unfortunate signalman of thirty years' service, who was, I have no doubt, as he thought, doing his duty properly, is the only person to whom any liability attaches; whereas the expenditure of a small sum would have prevented him from inadvertently committing the act for which he will shortly be tried for manslaughter, and have saved
5992-716: The control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk . The word 'safety' entered the English language in the 14th century. It is derived from Latin salvus , meaning uninjured, in good health , safe. There are two slightly different meanings of "safety". For example, " home safety " may indicate a building's ability to protect against external harm events (such as weather , home invasion , etc.), or may indicate that its internal installations (such as appliances , stairs , etc.) are safe (not dangerous or harmful) for its inhabitants. Discussions of safety often include mention of related terms. Security
6099-447: The danger and refused. The MS&LR decided to sever all agreements with the LNWR, and to form an alliance with the Great Northern Railway. The process to conclude these things took some time, but it resulted in transfer of the Manchester to London express passenger service to the route via Retford and the Great Northern Railway, in the same journey time as formerly via the LNWR. Of course much mineral traffic followed this transfer. Some of
6206-504: The defined safety regulations. A major American standards organization is the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). Usually, members of a particular industry will voluntarily form a committee to study safety issues and propose standards. Those standards are then recommended to ANSI, which reviews and adopts them. Many government regulations require that products sold or used must comply with
6313-586: The departure of Major-General Charles Pasley , the incumbent, and one of his subordinates. Pasley had come under criticism after the bridges and earthworks of the North British Railway 's line from Edinburgh to Berwick – approved by Pasley in June 1846 – failed to withstand heavy rain in September 1846, with nineteen miles of track being rendered unusable. Temporary works were undertaken to restore
6420-536: The efforts of neutral railway companies to mediate, and it was not until 12 November 1858 that a peaceful agreement was concluded. Throughout the process, Huish had been pursuing personal antagonistic objectives, and had steadily lost the confidence of his own board, and on 11 September 1858 his resignation was accepted. Towards the end of 1851 the Board had considered the restarting of the Barnsley branch construction, which had been promised but never proceeded with. In
6527-414: The end of September; he went to the Midland Railway. A shareholders' consultative committee had been set up and was require to be involved in strategic decisions of the company; it appears that Allport considered this to be an infringement of his role. Edward William Watkin took over in his place on 1 January 1854. He had been the assistant of Huish at the LNWR and he revealed that the latter, in spite of
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#17327656265096634-464: The engineer of Birkenhead docks, recommended the development of a dock at Garston , on the Mersey south of Liverpool, and a connecting railway. This was authorised in 1846; it diverged from the original line to Runcorn Gap just north of the Mersey and ran west to Garston. It opened on 1 July 1852, and the dock at Garston opened on 21 July 1853. A line eastwards to Warrington was built from a junction with
6741-439: The exclusive use of the two new lines on the northern side, except in the case of accidents, and have access across the LNWR to the MSJ&AR line. Although this seemed to be agreed smoothly enough with the LNWR, that company later used its primacy at London Road and the need for MS&LR trains to cross to the southern side there, as a means of obstructing MS&LR expansion. James Allport resigned on 20 July 1853, effective at
6848-420: The extremity of the pier". Next opening was from a junction at Ulceby (about halfway between New Holland and Grimsby) to Brigg , and a second arm of that line to Market Rasen. These sections opened on 1 November 1848. Notwithstanding the difficult financial conditions, the MS&LR network as originally planned was completed during 1849, except for the new station at Sheffield (still under construction),
6955-524: The first day of 1847 a short spur connection was opened from the Sheffield terminal to the Sheffield station of the Midland Railway (former Sheffield and Rotherham Railway ). At this time the Midland approached from the Rotherham direction only, and it had a terminal station adjacent to Wicker, and named after that thoroughfare. The short connecting link was steeply graded and almost entirely in tunnel; it
7062-529: The hitherto separate networks east and west of Manchester. The other part was the seven-mile line to Altrincham . The line opened between Oxford Road, Manchester, and Altrincham on 20 July 1849, and it was extended back to London Road in July 1849, and from Altrincham to Bowdon in August 1849, or September 1849. The MSJ&AR network was now complete. As well as enabling a busy local passenger service, in time
7169-470: The initial integrity of new and modified works. As a result of the legislative change, which transferred them to the Office of Rail Regulation, the scope of HMRI enforcement no longer covered guided bus, trolleybus and most cable-hauled transport systems. In May 2009 the legal entity known as "HM Railway Inspectorate" ceased to exist when a single rail regulatory body covering both safety and economic issues,
7276-638: The inspectorate had no powers to require changes until the Railway Regulation Act 1842 ('An Act for the better Regulation of Railways and for the Conveyance of Troops') gave the BoT powers to delay opening of new lines if the inspectorate was concerned about "Incompleteness of the Works or permanent Way, or the Insufficiency of the Establishment" for working the line. Their first investigation
7383-459: The inspectorate, inquests rarely went beyond the immediate cause; hence, said one inspector in 1870: "Coroner's inquests, as generally conducted, are singularly ill calculated to ascertain the real causes of railway accidents; but they are supposed to be sometimes serviceable... to the railway companies, in concealing the mismanagement of the company from the public". Coroner's inquests were public and their proceedings and verdicts widely reported in
7490-433: The legal framework, but the different Member States may authorize test laboratories to carry out safety testing. Many countries have national organizations that have accreditation to test and/or submit test reports for safety certification. These are typically referred to as a Notified or Competent Body. Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway The Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway ( MS&LR )
7597-417: The meantime, other companies had connected the town: the Sheffield, Rotherham, Barnsley, Wakefield, Huddersfield and Goole Railway and the South Yorkshire Railway . It was at last completed, opening in three stages, from 15 May 1854 to 12 February 1857. The Birley coal branch, turning west from Woodhouse and 2 + 3 ⁄ 4 miles in length, was brought into use in June 1855. The MS&LR opened
7704-569: The mid-19th century the Railway Inspectorate advocated in its accident returns and otherwise three safety measures it saw as vital to ensure passenger safety: The Board of Trade got as far and as fast as it could by persuasion, but had no powers to enforce its views on often reluctant railway managements of existing lines. Inspectors disagreed as to whether the board should be given powers to require changes. Yolland's official report on an 1867 accident (in which eight people died at
7811-519: The most common. Probably the most common individual response to perceived safety issues is insurance, which compensates for or provides restitution in the case of damage or loss. System safety and reliability engineering is an engineering discipline. Continuous changes in technology, environmental regulation and public safety concerns make the analysis of complex safety-critical systems more and more demanding. A common fallacy, for example among electrical engineers regarding structure power systems,
7918-865: The most popular ones are Safety Science and Journal of Safety Research. The goal of this research is to identify, understand, and mitigate risks to human health and well-being in various environments. This involves systematically studying hazards, analyzing potential and actual accidents, and developing effective strategies to prevent injuries and fatalities. Safety research aims to create safer products, systems, and practices by incorporating scientific, engineering, and behavioral insights. Ultimately, it seeks to enhance public safety, reduce economic losses, and improve overall quality of life by ensuring that both individuals and communities are better protected from harm. A number of standards organizations exist that promulgate safety standards. These may be voluntary organizations or government agencies. These agencies first define
8025-411: The original SA&MR line had both been strengthened with extra tie rods in the middle 1850s. They were insured respectively for £4,000 and £6,000, but now drastic repairs were required: all of the timber arches in both structures were to be replaced by wrought iron girders at a cost of £28,700 from November 1859. Not long afterwards the contractor system of permanent way maintenance came to an end when it
8132-408: The other. Safety is the condition of a "steady state" of an organization or place doing what it is supposed to do. "What it is supposed to do" is defined in terms of public codes and standards, associated architectural and engineering designs , corporate vision and mission statements, and operational plans and personnel policies. For any organization, place, or function, large or small, safety
8239-417: The presence of the associated hazards that are known, expected, or reasonably assumed to exist during a planned activity and any likely contingencies associated with it. Safety is generally interpreted as implying a real and significant impact on risk of death, injury or damage to property. In response to perceived risks many interventions may be proposed with engineering responses and regulation being two of
8346-463: The press. In later years, accident reports were published directly, widely circulated within the railway industry, and reported upon by the press. The HMRI became part of the Department of Transport and remained so until 1990, when it was transferred to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). About this time HMRI expanded its scope and recruited additional staff, Railway Employment Officers. It
8453-466: The public inquiry, delaying the inquiry until the criminal prosecutions have been completed. The transfer to the HSE was unpopular with many in the industry, and as part of its rail review in 2004 the government announced that the Railway Inspectorate would be transferred from the HSE to merge with the Office of Rail Regulation (now the Office of Rail and Road ). The transfer took place on 2 April 2006. The inspectorate oversaw both operational safety and
8560-493: The public safety. It is true that the practice of the Department is to send one of the inspecting officers to inquire into and report upon the circumstances attending accidents, as in this and the former collision at Walton Junction, and such inquiries are submitted to by the railway companies; but their Lordships are not empowered to make an order for anything to be done. No responsibility appears to attach to any person for
8667-439: The railway company a very large sum of money that must now be paid as compensation for those who suffered. The utility of their Lordships continuing to maintain the present system of making these unauthorized inquiries into the circumstances connected with the accidents which occur on railways may therefore be fairly questioned as a stronger instance of its inutility cannot be cited than what has recently occurred with reference to
8774-520: The real-world safety history is favorable, whether or not standards are met. Perceived or subjective safety refers to the users' level of comfort and perception of risk, without consideration of standards or safety history. For example, traffic signals are perceived as safe, yet under some circumstances, they can increase traffic crashes at an intersection. Traffic roundabouts have a generally favorable safety record yet often make drivers nervous. Low perceived safety can have costs. For example, after
8881-424: The risk of harm due to intentional criminal acts such as assault, burglary or vandalism. Because of the moral issues involved, security is of higher importance to many people than substantive safety. For example, a death due to murder is considered worse than a death in a car crash, even though in many countries, traffic deaths are more common than homicides. Operational safety is the absence of unacceptable risk in
8988-572: The safety standards, which they publish in the form of codes. They are also Accreditation Bodies and entitle independent third parties such as testing and certification agencies to inspect and ensure compliance to the standards they defined. For instance, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) formulated a certain number of safety standards in its Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code (BPVC) and accredited TÜV Rheinland to provide certification services to guarantee product compliance to
9095-541: The same date. Mark Huish had taken over at the LNWR; he was a master of commercial chicanery. He achieved domination of the Midland Railway and the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway by means of traffic pooling agreements, and the alliance became known as the Euston Square Confederacy. There were good relations between the Great Northern Railway and the MS&LR, and Huish saw that completion of
9202-627: The scheme for the London Extension, a fearfully expensive project that risked alienating friendly companies. The London extension scheme changed the character of the MS&LR completely and dominated its final years. In 1897 the company changed its name to "The Great Central Railway ", and it was under that company name that the London Extension was opened in 1899. The Sheffield, Ashton under Lyne and Manchester Railway had opened throughout on 23 December 1845. Its line ran through
9309-442: The track between Wadsley Bridge and Oughty Bridge still had the original stone-block sleepered track, and this had to be hastily modernised. (At the beginning of 1858 an inspection indicated that the last of the stone block sleepers in the main line had gone). The LNWR continued to use underhand tactics of all kinds to frustrate the smooth operation of MS&LR and GNR trains, especially at Manchester. The warfare continued despite
9416-430: Was Colonel John Wallace Pringle , responsible for investigating many accidents. It was during his tenure, in 1919, that the office became part of the newly created Ministry of Transport. The last chief inspecting officer with a Royal Engineers background, Major Rose, retired in 1988 and he was replaced by an appointee from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) . Since then, inspecting officers have been recruited from
9523-590: Was a prime seaport with a huge volume of international and coastwise trade, and was consequently of strategic importance for railways in the region. The MS&LR reached as far west as Manchester, and was joint owner of the Manchester South Junction and Altrincham Railway. The MS&LR began to consider how it might reach Liverpool without dependency of the LNWR, which was generally hostile and obstructive. The St Helens and Runcorn Gap Railway had been built to convey minerals south from St Helens to
9630-447: Was agreed that the two railways should be worked as one interest with a scheme for sharing income and expenses. The treaty was regarded as continuous and subject only to seven years' notice of termination by either side. The agreement was finalised on 29 July 1854. Later in the year the LNWR offered to perform the whole of the MS&LR's passenger and parcels business at London Road station, including collection and delivery by van, for £600
9737-430: Was also an important business area, and well-patronised express trains to London were run in collaboration with the GNR. Nevertheless, the MS&LR was never greatly profitable. For many years its General Manager, and then chairman, was Edward Watkin , a dynamic leader who sometimes allowed personal vanity to drive his priorities. Watkin was determined that the MS&LR should get its own route to London, and this became
9844-425: Was authorised on 10 August 1857, with capital of £140,000. The MS&LR was anxious to secure the commitment of the LNWR to the project, partly to disarm LNWR plans to build their own line there. The L&YR had at first expressed preparedness to support the line, but in negotiations which dragged into 1858 the L&YR as clearly determined to keep the LNWR out, and the L&YR withdrew. Accordingly, on 30 June 1862
9951-489: Was building its main line in stages, and on 4 September 1849 it opened its Doncaster-Retford line. At Retford the GNR trains used the MS&LR station until its own station there was opened. This took place on 1 August 1852 after completion of the Retford-Peterborough section of the GNR main line, which crossed that of the MS&LR on the flat. An act of Parliament of 24 July 1851 permitted the GNR to run over
10058-490: Was changed from direct to contractors. In the 1856 session of Parliament, the North Western Railway (a small company unconnected with the London and North Western Railway) was applying for running powers over part of the LNWR. In the course of the examination of witnesses, the illegal "common-purse" agreement which existed between the London and North Western and the Midland Railway was exposed. Euston Square
10165-482: Was conceived as a nominally independent company, the Marple, New Mills and Hayfield Junction Railway. Sponsored by the MS&LR it was authorised on 15 May 1860. It was to extend to New Mills with a branch from there to Hayfield . From Marple to New Mills the line opened for goods on 1 July 1865 and for passengers on 1 February 1867. Meanwhile, the Midland Railway was building a line up from near Miller's Dale, joining
10272-407: Was discovered that a contractor had got into serious financial difficulty; the work was brought in-house. The first quadruple-track section of the MS&L, between Gorton and Ashburys, were drawn up in 1860. Negotiations were required with the LNWR over the use of the proposed widened lines between Ardwick junction and London Road. The MS&L were to vacate the original pair of tracks and be given
10379-453: Was felt immediately, and the removal of the pilot engine alone saved £800 a year. On 18 March 1852 a banquet was held at Grimsby to celebrate the completion of the MS&LR's dock; it entered public use in May and a branch from Grimsby Town station to the Docks and Pier stations, with two miles of internal dock lines, were ready on 1 August 1853. The Etherow and Dinting Vale viaducts on
10486-540: Was formally opened on 16 July 1849. A special train conveying the Directors ran from Liverpool to Grimsby in five hours. The line was opened to the public the following day, 17 July 1849. There were two stations at Stalybridge : the former SA&MR station and one belonging to the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway . The companies agreed to rationalise, with the MS&LR station handling all passenger business, and
10593-477: Was formed in 1847 when the Sheffield, Ashton-under-Lyne and Manchester Railway joined with authorised but unbuilt railway companies, forming a proposed network from Manchester to Grimsby . It pursued a policy of expanding its area of influence, especially in reaching west to Liverpool, which it ultimately did through the medium of the Cheshire Lines Committee network in joint partnership with
10700-509: Was it not anomalous that it thought military engineers best fitted to inspect new railway lines? The inspectorate's powers were extended and formalised by the Railway Regulation Act 1871 ('An Act to amend the Law respecting the Inspection and Regulation of Railways'). Paragraph 4 extended the power to inspect to give inspectors explicit powers to require the production of persons and papers by
10807-435: Was no longer practicable to control their company's day-to-day activities from the Board, and the decided to appoint a General Manager. The Board selected James Joseph Allport , appointed at a salary of £1,200 a year. Due to existing commitments he was not able to take up the post until 1 January 1850. Allport's appointment at what seemed to some to be a high salary caused some shareholder disquiet. The Great Northern Railway
10914-501: Was now vulnerable to a Chancery suit, and, in the spring of 1857 a director of the Great Northern Railway filed a petition in Chancery. The LNWR position was indefensible and Euston Square had no option but to terminate the arrangement; this was done on 12 May 1857. The Euston Square Confederacy was neutralised. Huish attempted further duplicity in trying to agree a sharing of traffic with the Great Northern Railway, but that company saw
11021-493: Was of the Howden rail crash on 7 August 1840, which had killed five passengers (although the inspector's report said four, three passengers were killed instantly, two dying later of their injuries) as a result of the derailment of a train caused by the fall of a large casting from a wagon on a passenger train. The inspectorate's reports of their accident investigations were made to the BoT alone, but eventually published as part of
11128-479: Was only used for wagon exchange purposes. Having now taken over three large railway schemes that were authorised but not yet started, the MS&LR had to let large contracts for construction. In February 1847 nearly half a million pounds worth of work was commissioned; the Sheffield and Lincolnshire Junction Railway main line from Woodhouse (near Sheffield) to Gainsborough, the Grimsby line to Market Rasen , and
11235-485: Was provided, at Dinting, at the Glossop branch junction. The original Dinting station was closed after an interval. In its first year of operation, the MS&LR had paid a 5% dividend on ordinary stock. This fell to 2 + 1 ⁄ 2 % for the first half of 1848, since when there were no further payments for six years. Progress continued on building the line between Grimsby and New Holland . The Grimsby-Louth line of
11342-504: Was renamed the Safety Directorate. However, in summer 2015 its name was re-established as the safety arm of ORR. The modern HMRI within the Office of Road and Rail (ORR) identifies as "The Railway Inspectorate". HMRI works in tandem with the rest of the ORR, and as such may be consulted on matters effecting industry efficiency. Internally, most of HMRI's inspectors are part of the Railway Safety Directorate (RSD) of
11449-437: Was their job to monitor the workplace safety and health of railway employees. After the move to the HSE, (newsworthy) train crash investigations tended to be held as public inquiries presided over by a High Court judge; and the findings published. These inquiries tended to be more adversarial ; with the aim of identifying the guilty parties. In some cases criminal prosecution of these parties has occurred in parallel with
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