04.04.2011

Railway Kamikaze

A reader in Holland spotted two men working on railway overhead maintenance near Hardinxveld in The Netherlands on March 19th – there are so many examples of poor practice it left us wondering where to begin.
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An excavator mounted platform on the rails

First thing is the contraption they are using to reach the overhead lines, an excavator with a platform attachment! Now it could be that the device is fully EN280 compliant and meets all of the essential safety requirements of the relevant EU directives – however it if appearances are anything to go that is doubtful.

Then the two are not wearing any form of harness, in spite of moving along on the end of a substantial cantilever arm. And is this an integrated platform? It certainly appears to have some controls but an operator the cab seems to be in charge of the boom and travel functions.
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Sitting on the guardrail as the unit trundles down the line

Finally as if that is not enough they appear to think that sitting on the edge of the guardrail or standing on the mid rail to work is proper use of the platform. Putting aside the tragedy of one of these two fell, imagine the cost and downtime to the railway of such an incident?
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Using the mid-rail for extra height

It definitely qualifies for our Death Wish series.