Summary

At 17:21 hrs on 21 January 2021, a passenger train narrowly avoided a collision with two cars at Coltishall Lane user worked level crossing, near Hoveton, Norfolk. Road traffic over the crossing was higher than usual as a result of drivers seeking a diversionary route for their journeys, following an earlier road traffic accident on a nearby main road.

Forward-facing CCTV footage of the near miss at Colitshall UWC, 21 January 2021

The safe use of the crossing relied solely on telephones to warn users in road vehicles of approaching trains, and the near miss occurred because the car drivers did not telephone the signaller before using the crossing. The investigation found that this may have been because the car drivers were unfamiliar with the crossing, because the signs at the crossing were ineffective in prompting users on how to cross safely, and because the level crossing gates had already been opened. It is also possible that factors such as the increased level of road traffic may have affected the behaviour of road users and their decision-making.

The investigation also found that Network Rail and its predecessors had not taken measures to close or upgrade this crossing, despite being aware of the risks it posed. This was possibly because Network Rail’s processes for assessing and controlling risk at the crossing did not take account of some of the factors present, leading to an incomplete understanding of the risks involved in its operation. Additionally, the status of user worked crossings on public roads was not acknowledged within relevant statutory provisions and industry guidance, and this may have affected how safety at these crossings was managed by infrastructure managers. The Office of Rail and Road had previously taken regulatory action, but this had not resulted in action by Network Rail to address the risk at this crossing by the time the near miss occurred.

Recommendations

RAIB’s report makes three recommendations. The first is that Network Rail should assess, and if necessary reduce, the risks of incidents and accidents at vehicular user worked crossings which may see significant use by unfamiliar users, consistent with current industry best practice. The second is that Network Rail, in consultation with the Office of Rail and Road and the Department for Transport, should improve signage at user worked crossings which may share features identified in this investigation. The third is that the Department for Transport, in consultation with the Office of Rail and Road and Network Rail, should evaluate the extent to which recent guidance on the drafting and making of level crossing orders will better enable the implementation of improved safety measures at level crossings.

There is one learning point that reminds those responsible for the management of safety of user worked crossings to adhere to the principles of level crossing risk assessment published by ORR in June 2021.

Andrew Hall, Chief Inspector of Rail Accidents said:

“This very near miss involved two road vehicles and took place at a user worked level crossing on a public road. Level crossings are one of the biggest sources of risk on the UK’s railways. RAIB has investigated many accidents and incidents over the last sixteen years and noted considerable improvement in the way risk at many types of level crossing is managed. However, we feel at present the greatest scope for safety improvement exists at user worked crossings, whether on private or public roads. The significant number of such crossings on public roads is of concern because most motorists are unlikely to be familiar with the concept of a level crossing which they must operate themselves. Because of this, they may not use the crossing safely as was the case in this incident. Over more than 20 years, the railway was aware that the safety arrangements at this crossing should be improved, but it seems that bringing about such change was too difficult. The regulatory structure in place to oversee level crossing safety did not result in action being taken at this crossing in time to avoid this incident.

“Our recommendations seek to promote safety improvements at user worked crossings on public roads and to check that regulatory actions being taken to make such improvements easier to achieve have the desired effect.”

Notes to editors

1. The sole purpose of RAIB investigations is to prevent future accidents and incidents and improve railway safety. RAIB does not establish blame, liability or carry out prosecutions.
2. RAIB operates, as far as possible, in an open and transparent manner. While our investigations are completely independent of the railway industry, we do maintain close liaison with railway companies and if we discover matters that may affect the safety of the railway, we make sure that information about them is circulated to the right people as soon as possible, and certainly long before publication of our final report.
3. For media enquiries, please call 01932 440015.

Newsdate: 14 April 2022

Samaritans are to launch a new veterans support helpline, backed by more than half a million pounds of government funding, to provide peer-to-peer emotional support to veterans.

The new helpline is one of more than 50 projects announced today from the Office for Veterans’ Affairs Afghanistan Veterans’ Fund, totalling £5million.

Around £150k is being provided to RFEA – The Forces Employment Charity, who will improve the wellbeing of veterans through volunteering with Afghans who now live in the UK, including Afghans who worked with the UK military and were evacuated during Operation Pitting.

Other projects include:

• Providing veterans in Scotland with opportunities to engage with mindfulness and recovery in nature, through the charity Mindfulness Scotland

• Encouraging veterans to connect with one another through sports such as rugby, golf, climbing and horse riding.

• Increasing access to assistance dogs for veterans struggling with their mental health in England to assistance dogs to help alleviate symptoms and triggers of PTSD.

Minister for Defence People and Veterans Leo Docherty said:

We are forever grateful to those who served in Afghanistan and members of the Afghan community who worked with them. Their courage and commitment to this country will never be forgotten.

This targeted funding for charities across the country will ensure that, regardless of location, those who have served and their families can access services easily.

The Afghanistan Veterans’ Fund was announced by the Prime Minister last year, following the withdrawal from Afghanistan. The fund supports the Afghanistan veteran cohort with help adjusting to civilian life.

The fund, which is being distributed by the Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust, will also increase dedicated support mechanisms for young veterans and their families. The £5 million boost will also help increase the user friendliness and accessibility of services, better signposting veterans to the range of state and charitable services available to them.

The Samaritans project will see volunteers from the military community trained to provide peer-to-peer support by the charity, to encourage improved mental resilience and wellbeing in the armed forces community.

Chief Executive Officer of Samaritans Julie Bentley said:

Samaritans is proud to be supporting our Armed Forces community, many of whom have put their physical and mental health on the line to serve their country, with the creation of a new dedicated support service for military veterans.

Sadly, we know from calls to our helpline that veterans consistently make up over 70% of the calls from the military community, and that they are almost twice as likely to report suicidal thoughts compared with the general population.

That’s why it’s so important that veterans facing a crisis can easily access support and contact a trained veteran volunteer to help improve their wellbeing.

Chief Executive Officer of RFEA – The Forces Employment Charity Alistair Halliday said:

The funding from the OVA will enable RFEA The Forces Employment Charity to deliver vital support. We will be working with UK Veterans to support Afghan people who are arriving in the UK and who worked alongside our UK Armed Forces during the 20 years of conflict in Afghanistan.

The aim of our programme will be to enable those arriving from Afghanistan to access employment providing financial independence and inclusion in UK society. The sustained links that we will create between UK veterans, many of whom served in the Afghanistan conflict, and those arriving from Afghanistan will create long-term benefit for both groups”.

Notes to editors

Details on the recipients of the Afghanistan Veterans’ Fund can be found here

A Norfolk landowner has been imprisoned for 8 months for storing and burning waste illegally at a site in Outwell, near Downham Market. Despite repeated warnings from the Environment Agency.

Trevor Sieley, 63, of Langhorns Lane, Outwell, was also ordered to pay a £140 victim surcharge. He was also ordered to pay £10 for breaching a suspended sentence order during the hearing at Norwich Crown Court on 6 April 2022.

In addition, he was served a court order requiring him to remove all waste from the site by 30 June 2023. He also needs to provide the Environment Agency with all paperwork by 7 July 2023.

Sieley pleaded guilty to storing and disposing of waste without an environmental permit. The waste included agricultural vehicles and equipment from his former contracting business, plus scrap metal, which he planned to sell. He also disposed of commercial waste for family and friends. Some of which he burned, and acknowledged that his actions had saved them from paying for the correct disposal of the waste.

The court heard that Sieley’s burning of waste would have produced fumes that would be harmful to human health and adversely affect the environment. A number of residential buildings and businesses, other than those of Sieley, lay some 200 metres away.

Environment Agency officers attended the site on 7 occasions and observed the charred remains of general rubbish, some of it shredded. This included plastics and metals, as well as hazardous items such as a vehicle engine and a television. These had been burned in a specially constructed ‘bund’ or pit. The presence of an excavator suggested a large amount of waste had been stored and burned.

Sieley was served a notice by the Environment Agency in September 2019, ordering him to clear the site. However, subsequent visits showed he was continuing to bring waste onto the property and burn it. He had taken no action to clear the site.

Prosecuting for the Environment Agency, solicitor Sarah Dunne told the court that the Environment Agency had made every possible effort to work with Sieley. He had been given the chance to put things right but, at every turn had been “met with obfuscation and contempt.”

He evaded repeated attempts by Environment Agency officers to discuss the matter with him. A warrant for Environment Agency officers to enter the site was issued in December 2019.

Defending barrister John Farmer told the court that Sieley had done his “inadequate best” to clear the site. However, His Honour Judge Shaw described Sieley as “arrogant” and told him: “You are someone who thinks the criminal law doesn’t apply to you. You haven’t just not made it better, you have made it worse.”

Judge Shaw pointed out that he had breached environmental laws since 2008. Notching up 2 previous sets of environmental convictions and being made subject to a suspended sentence for permitting the cultivation of cannabis at the same site.

The judge also observed that the 2 year Covid lockdown had given Sieley ample opportunity to clear the site yet he continued to accept more waste. He continued to frustrate Environment Agency’s efforts to discuss the matter with him.

Phil Henderson, Enforcement Team Leader for the Environment Agency, said:

Storing and burning waste in this way saved the cost of legal disposal and put the environment at real risk. Mr Sieley was able to operate at a commercial advantage and undermine his lawful competitors.

We welcome this sentence which sends a powerful message to anyone in Mr Sieley’s position that waste crime will not pay.

The offences took place between 29 July 2019 and 17 December 2019.

Sieley was prosecuted under regulations 12(1)(a) and 38(1)(a) of the Environmental Permitting Regulations.

During March, there were five new detentions of a foreign flagged vessel in a UK port.

1. In response to one of the recommendations of Lord Donaldson’s inquiry into the prevention of pollution from merchant shipping, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) publishes details of the foreign flagged vessels detained in UK ports each month.

2. The UK is part of a regional agreement on port state control known as the Paris Memorandum of Understanding on Port State Control (Paris MOU) and information on all ships that are inspected is held centrally in an electronic database known as THETIS. This allows the ships with a high risk rating and poor detention records to be targeted for future inspection.

3. Inspections of foreign flagged ships in UK ports are undertaken by surveyors from the Maritime and Coastguard Agency. When a ship is found to be not in compliance with applicable convention requirements, a deficiency may be raised. If any of their deficiencies are so serious, they have to be rectified before departure, then the ship will be detained.

4. All deficiencies should be rectified or in agreed class/ flag condition before departure.

Notes on the list of detentions:

• Full details of the ship: The accompanying detention list shows ship’s International Maritime Organisation (IMO) number which does not change throughout the ship’s life and uniquely identifies it. It also shows the ship’s name and flag state at the time of its inspection.
• Company: The company shown in the vessel’s Safety Management Certificate (SMC) or if there is no SMC, then the party otherwise believed to be responsible for the operation of the ship at the time of inspection.
• Classification society: The list shows the classification society responsible for classification of the ship only.
• Recognised organisation: Responsible for conducting the statutory surveys and issuing statutory certificates on behalf of the flag state.
• White (WL), grey (GL) and black lists (BL) are issued by the Paris MoU on 01 July each year and shows the performance of flag state.
• Deficiencies: The deficiencies listed are the ones which were detainable. Further details of other deficiencies can be provided on request.

SHIPS DETAINED IN MARCH 2022

Vessel Name: GRIT CEMENT IV

GT: 9299

IMO: 9331830

Flag: Panama (white list)

Company: Sirios Shipmanagement Corp

Classification society: RINA Services S.p.A

Recognised organisation: RINA Services S.p.A

Recognised organisation for ISM Doc: RINA Services S.p.A

Recognised organisation for ISM SMC: RINA Services S.p.A

Date and place of detention: 3rd March 2022 at Immingham

Summary: Twelve deficiencies with five grounds for detention

This vessel was released 6th March 2022

Vessel Name: STELLAR ALAZANI

GT: 17027

IMO: 9708265

Flag: Liberia (white list)

Company: Marine Trans Bureau Ltd

Classification society: NKK

Recognised organisation: NKK, BV

Recognised organisation for ISM Doc: BV

Recognised organisation for ISM SMC: NKK

Date and place of detention: 8th March 2022 at Greenock

Summary: Nine deficiencies with three grounds for detention

This vessel was released 28th March 2022

Vessel Name: IVORY GULL

GT: 19992

IMO: 9475715

Flag: Liberia (white list)

Company: Roswell Navigation Corp

Classification society: NKK

Recognised organisation: NKK

Recognised organisation for ISM Doc: NKK

Recognised organisation for ISM SMC: NKK

Date and place of detention: 22nd March 2022 at London

Summary: Twenty-nine deficiencies with six grounds for detention

This vessel was released 28th March 2022

Vessel Name: EUROPEAN CAUSEWAY

GT: 20646

IMO: 9208394

Flag: Bahamas (white list)

Company: P&O Ferries Holdings Ltd

Classification society: Lloyds Register

Recognised organisation: Lloyds Register

Recognised organisation for ISM Doc: Lloyds Register

Recognised organisation for ISM SMC: Lloyds Register

Date and place of detention: 25th March 2022 at Larne

Summary: Thirty one deficiencies with seven grounds for detention

This vessel was still detained 31st March 2022

Vessel Name: PRIDE OF KENT

GT: 30635

IMO: 9015266

Flag: Cyprus (white list)

Company: P&O Ferries Holdings Ltd

Classification society: Lloyds Register

Recognised organisation: Lloyds Register

Recognised organisation for ISM Doc: Lloyds Register

Recognised organisation for ISM SMC: Lloyds Register

Date and place of detention: 28th March 2022 at Dover

Summary: Twenty-five deficiencies with eight grounds for detention

This vessel was still detained 31st March 2022

DETENTIONS CARRIED OVER FROM PREVIOUS MONTHS

Vessel Name: POSEIDON

GT: 1412

IMO: 7363217

Flag: Iceland (Not listed)

Company: Neptune EHF

Classification society: NA

Recognised organisation: NA

Recognised organisation for ISM Doc: DNV-GL

Recognised organisation for ISM SMC: N/A (SMC issued by Flag)

Date and place of detention: 19th July 2018 at Hull

Summary: Ten deficiencies with two grounds for detention

This vessel was still detained on 31st March 2022

Vessel Name: TECOIL POLARIS

GT: 1814

IMO No: 8883290

Flag: Russian Federation (White list)

Company: Tecoil Shipping Ltd

Classification society: RMRS

Recognised organisation: RMRS

Recognised organisation for ISM DOC: RMRS

Recognised organisation for ISM SMC: RMRS

Date and place of detention: 6th June 2018 at Immingham

Summary: Twenty-seven deficiencies with six grounds for detentions

This vessel was still detained on 31st March 2022

Vessel Name: CIEN PORCIENTO

GT: 106.

IMO No: 8944446.

Flag: Sweden (White list)

Company: Open Window Inc.

Classification society: Unclassed.

Recognised organisation: Not applicable.

Recognised organisation for ISM DOC: Not applicable.

Recognised organisation for ISM SMC: Not applicable

Date and place of detention: 4 March 2010, Lowestoft

Summary: Thirty deficiencies including seven grounds for detention

This vessel was still detained on 31st March 2022

Notes to Editors

• The MCA is a partner in the Sea Vision UK campaign to raise awareness and understanding of the sea and maritime activities. Sea Vision promotes the importance and economic value of the sector and works to highlight the exciting range of activities and career opportunities available to young people within the UK growing maritime sector.

• Follow us on Twitter: @MCA_media

For further information please contact Maritime and Coastguard Agency Press Office, on: +44 (0) 2380 329 401 Press releases and further information about the agency is available here.