Cycling UK Forum

There is a duty of care to employees that is understood as part of H&S legislation but equally there is a duty of care to non-employees (ie the general public) on a site, and from the external impacts of that site.

Thus if someone slips or falls on ice & snow (or a defective surface) that has not been attended to within a reasonable time, or has a sufficient level of warning and other measures relevant to the hazard the site operator may be liable under section 3, with a high profile case at present relating to Railtrack and Jarvis Rail as an outcome from the Potters Bar rail crash.

It was thus disturbing to hear that some Train Operators were fielding staff to rigorously check tickets but seemed to lack the resources (ie manpower) to clear the platform edges of snow and ices - several days after the snow had fallen, with a similar detail on station approaches. A comparable issue might be from level crossings where gaps between the panels exceed 10mm and vertical alignments are equally of the order to cause trips (pedestrians) and crashes (cyclists0

The useful news is that there is a process to report 'dangerous occurrences' (RIDDOR) so that the existence of a hazard and thus potential for a more serious incident can be recorded. In this way it may be possible to remind a few organisations of the appropriate priorities in both bad weather interventions and standards of maintenance for surfaces over which we move with our cycles.

I do have a template form for a RIDDOR report should you fall off on a railway level crossing, noting that for a number of reports received in the past we find no record on the railway's operating log.

A number of defective level crossings appear on the fillthathole website.

dave holladay wrote:I do have a template form for a RIDDOR report should you fall off on a railway level crossing, noting that for a number of reports received in the past we find no record on the railway's operating log.

Hi Dave

Interesting post. Out of curiosity, who is the "we" you are refering to? Are you working for an enforcement authority?

Best regards
David

dave holladay wrote:

The useful news is that there is a process to report 'dangerous occurrences' (RIDDOR) so that the existence of a hazard and thus potential for a more serious incident can be recorded. In this way it may be possible to remind a few organisations of the appropriate priorities in both bad weather interventions and standards of maintenance for surfaces over which we move with our cycles.

I do have a template form for a RIDDOR report should you fall off on a railway level crossing, noting that for a number of reports received in the past we find no record on the railway's operating log.

.

The circumstances in which a cyclist would have a duty to submit a RIDDOR report would be very limited (No right to submit one exists as far as I'm aware).

In the example above, the responsible person would be required to submit a RIDDOR, should the injuries fall within the scope of the RIDDOR regulations. The responsible person would be that defined under Regulation 2 of the RIDDOR reg's, I'd assume network rail or the train operating company.

There would seem to be a parallel in under reporting along with the Stats 19 (injuries which prompt the report of a road crash) where an immense level of under reportiung is suggested for non fatal crashes.

I'm fairly sure that a similar under reporting takes place for falls on stations and especially falls on level crossings, andgetting therse logged seems to be a significant detail if the maintenance standards are to be improved.

ok

“Reportable dangerous occurrences” are specific events (eg boiler explosion, collapse of crane) which do not lead to injury; Schedule 4 of the regulations lists those relevent to the railways.

In addition, fatalities to members of the public or people not at work are reportable, as are injuries to them where they are taken from the scene of an accident to hospital. As said above these are reportable by the “responsible person” (in this case the person in control of the premises).