Location of accident (Country, State, Address): Singapore
Company: SMRT
Date and time of accident: 21 January 2008, 3.10am
Industry Type: Transportation (train)
Severity: No injury; 7 hours of delay
Type of Accident: Vehicle collision
Description of accident: Based on Straits Times (23 September 2008), two maintenance vehicles collided on the track on 21 January 2008. It was reported that the parking brake of a maintenance train was not engaged resulting in the train rolling back and colliding into its locomotive. The failure to engage the brakes was termed a “breach of operating procedures”. The company was fined $390,000 for the 7 hours disruption. SMRT decided to sack a maintenance worker and suspend 2 other workers. The Straits Times reported that there had been similar incidents in the past, but none resulted in disruptions to train service.
Discussion: The cause of the incident based on the report can be summarized as below:
Maintenance train rolled back <– Failure to engage brakes (breach procedure) <– Why?
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Collide with locomotive
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7 hours disruption; property loss; Fine of $390,000
Some key questions that should be asked are: (1) Was the breach of procedure a violation (intentional) or a human error? (2) If the breach is a human error, what caused/contributed to the error? Fatigue? Poor lighting? Rushed work? (3) Since there had been previous incidents, what was done after those incidents to improve safety? Could some fail-safe controls be implemented?
Relevant Links
· See this article on a major train incident with direct cause (failure to apply break)