Lynton and Barnstaple - Operations and Development

At the end of the day, those at the top of the HSE tree in any organisation carry the biggest can, so I don't understand the reticence of ignoring it and its implications. To my way of thinking, each railway should have a Health and Safety officer (at Director level to be honest) who should have an understanding of what can go wrong.

I don't know for certain this day and age, but when I did my H&S course with the old EEPTU, we had two weeks at the training college near Esher, and we went through the Piper Alpha Disaster and the Cullen inquiry in detail.

If anyone is in doubt about this subject, I do wonder if any of the Trade Unions would get involved with the heritage railway world. I am not aware of any current courses available to enthusiasts on HSE but I would have thought that someone like the HRA might provide a course for it members.

It is a bit of a sobering thought that we only need one HSE occurrence to happen, and that could shut down an entire industry in the UK

 

I'm sure @Lineisclear would be able to give a pointer to the resources that HRA provide the sector. Meanwhile, we know that even very serious H&S incidents (child through carriage floor, serious injuries falling from height, locomotive runaway where not chocked and handbrake insufficient, death in shunting incident) have not had anything like as dramatic an impact on the railways involved, let alone the sector, even though there have been RAIB reports and/or prosecutions resulting.

As for H&S risks and managements' view of them, I would be very reluctant to suggest that they don't take them seriously. The discussion about HOPS is based on partial information, and we don't have sight of the risk analyses that will have gone into determining individual organisations' approaches.

 

Over the years there have been a number of serious health and safety issues in the sector, up to and including the serious injury and deaths of volunteers, and thus far those incidents haven’t caused the sky to fall in on the sector. That is not to downplay such issues, but equally let’s give the various railways some credit for understanding and managing their risks, and learning from incidents that do occur.

This whole discussion, in the context of the L&BR, seems to have materialised out of thin air. There’s a comment about fencing off a parcel of land and before you know it, people are pontificating about learning the lessons of Piper Alpha! As far as I can see it isn’t H&S that stops that bit of land being fenced, it isn’t HOPS, it isn’t agreeing who can and can’t volunteer - it is simply a question of the work rising to the top of someone’s priority list.

Let’s not try and conjure dragons out of thin air just because in an organisation with limited capacity, not everything people want to happen does so instantly.

Tom

 

Hear hear. Even just speed-skimming through this thread once a day has been reducing my will to live.

 

In case anybody isn't aware, the results (including presentation slides) from the L&BRT/CIC AGMs are now available on the website: https://www.lynton-rail.co.uk/trust-notices
I don't think it as yet includes the audio, but maybe that is to follow.

 

Those of you on Facebook may want to see Yeo ExePress No 1, dated Feb 2025, which has just appeared on the 762 Club's facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/search/top?q=the 762 club

As a 762 Club member, I was surprised when this popped up, as it is the first time I had heard of it, but I guess late news is better than no news! I'm looking forward to see No 2 when published.

 

Yes, most interesting indeed, having now admitted to having a membership, I wonder if we will have an AGM to be able to ask questions?

 

It’s not only relating to the L&B but people are extending the discussion to include the whole movement. Take lone working, for instance. There’s nothing basically wrong with that. Hundreds of thousands do it every day. I’ve discussed this with the ORR and, providing a sensible approach is taken, they have no problem. The usual risk assessment needs to be done but it shouldn’t be on the basis that it can’t be done.

 

Since a belated submission to Companies House you aren't apparently entitled to one...

Sent from my SM-T575 using Tapatalk

 

On the general subject of H&S and heritage railways, by coincidence I was at the ESR today and discovered - much to my surprise and indeed astonishment - that the public were allowed to walk right through the middle of the engine shed, within arms length of those working on various engines. Indeed the path from one end of the site to the other was actually signposted down the middle of the shed, rather than around the outside !!

 

Its been like that forever

 

I think that when built the intention was to have it open to the public as an example of a GWR loco shed. Good to know that’s still the case.

 

I had the impression that fencing the land (south of Blackmoor) was suggested as being urgent because the land reverts to the sellers if it is not worked on by some date in 2026. If I am wrong about that someone will put me right.

 

That is true, but at the AGM, this project was specifically referred to, and is apparently due to be completed in time for the January 2026 deadline.

 

It was asked at the AGM if anyone had an objection to the meeting being recorded and the impression given that an audio version would be released,we will wait and see

 

A late response to the highlighted bit: what is easily overlooked is the effect of inflation. Savings accounts typically pay somewhat less than the rate of inflation, so the real interest rate is negative; whereas income from an investment such as a pub or a company can be expected to rise more or less in line with inflation while the real outstanding value of any debt gradually diminishes.

 

I stand corrected,it does say in the slides released on the website that the recording will not be made public however judging by the membership figure quoted in the 'about us' section of the website and that posted in the 'slides' it would seem that in the last 2 years membership has dropped off by around 800, surely something that should be of serious concern