14 September 2023

A £6.7 million fine imposed on Network Rail last week by the High Court at Aberdeen is the latest in a long list of seven figure fines imposed on companies for health and safety offences in the UK in the past year alone.

Last week, Network Rail pleaded guilty to a series of health and safety failings which resulted in the deaths of three people when a train derailed in Aberdeenshire in August 2020.

On 12 August 2020, the weather conditions in Aberdeenshire and the surrounding area had been "unprecedented", with reports of severe thunderstorms, landslips and flooding.  The 06:38 train service from Aberdeen to Glasgow had been unable to complete its journey due to the conditions and was returning to Aberdeen. The driver queried with a signaller whether any reduced speed was needed to return north, but was told it was not.  Due to the extreme weather, a drainage system near the track which had been improperly installed by Carillion in 2011 failed, with gravel washing out from the drainage trench and on to the track.  The high speed train - which had two engines and four carriages - was travelling at 72.8mph when it struck the debris on the track, derailed and collided with a bridge parapet before the engine burst into flames.

Three people died – the train driver, the train conductor and a passenger. The other six passengers aboard the train were injured. The crash was the worst accident on Britain’s railways in 18 years.

Network Rail pleaded guilty to breaching the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, admitting a series of health and safety failings that resulted in the deaths covering the period from 1 May 2011 to 12 August 2020, including:

• Failing to have in place a proper training and quality assurance system for analysing weather forecasts.
• Failing to impose an emergency speed restriction on the line and to instruct the driver to reduce his speed following a landslide on a nearby section of track.
• Failings related to the inspection and maintenance of the drainage asset which, had it been properly constructed, would have been able to cope with the gravel washed down by the heavy rain.

Passing sentence, Judge Lord Matthews ruled that culpability on the part of Network Rail was high, meaning there was a serious or systemic failure within the company to address risks to health and safety. The fact that the breach had subsisted over a period of nine years meant that a large number of people had been exposed to risk. Opportunities to take appropriate action may have been missed.  A Rail Accident Investigation Branch report published in March 2022 found that Network Rail had not fully implemented safety measures drawn up after previous extreme weather events.

But Lord Matthews also took account of Network Rail’s co-operation with all post-crash investigations and the actions the company had taken in the aftermath of the crash to prevent such an incident happening again.  Ultimately, a fine of £10 million was reduced to £6.7 million to reflect Network Rail’s guilty plea which avoided the need for a distressing, lengthy and complex trial.

This fine is the latest in a series of high profile six and seven figure fines which courts have imposed for H&S offences in the last year.  This reflects the increasing seriousness with which courts view health and safety and reinforces that one of their primary aims of sentencing is to drive home to company owners the importance of managing health and safety risks within a business.

Whilst the passing of the sentence marks the end of the criminal case against Network Rail, that is by no means the end of the line for the company or for the families of those involved in the crash.  The Crown have announced that a Fatal Accident Inquiry will now be held into the circumstances surrounding the deaths, with the aim of preventing similar incidents in the future.  As such, the impact of the collision will continue to be felt for many years to come.

This case is a stark reminder of the cost – not least in human terms – of failing to have in place suitable and sufficient systems for managing health and safety risks.

BTO’s Regulatory and Criminal Defence Team is available to provide advice and training to organisations who require specialist Health and Safety input. The team is also on hand to provide expert support in immediate post-incident situations and throughout investigations by the police or relevant regulators.

Amy Anderson, Associate: aan@bto.co.uk / 0141 221 8012