SHUNTING ACCIDENTS.

Hawera Star, Volume XLV, 13 August 1925, Page 8

SHUNTING ACCIDENTS.

SERIOUS ALLEGATIONS

MADE AT PALMERSTON north INQUEST.

(BY TELEGRAPH PRESS ASSOCIATIONPALMERSTON NORTH, Aug. 12. An inquest whs conducted this morning before j\ir. Graham, coroner, on the circumstances- surrounding the death of Thomas Carmichael, a shunter who died on the evening ol : August 3rd from injuries received the same morning while engaged in shunting at the local railway yard. Witnesses to the accident alleged that of two lire men, one was in the habit- of harassing the men continually, The result was* that deceased, who was of an excitable nature, became agitated and therefore unable to do his "work properly. Evidence was also given that shunters were not properly trained and were engaged on dangerous work without experience, re. suiting in a menace to themselves and others in the yards. Witnesses said that for the past two years the men had been endeavouring to secure a public enquiry into the conditions oi shunting .at ' Palmerston North, but the union would not give evidence behind closed doors. Several witnesses alleged that Carmichael was incompetent, yet had boon made a second, shunter, and was told that, he would soon he tit for the position of head of the shunting gang. One of the shunters working with the deceased at the time of the accident said that since then, at Iris own request, he had been reappointed porter, as he deemed it was unsafe to work in the yard under the existing conditions. , Evidence was also given as to tne delay in securing medical assistance, and’to the. fact that deceased lay for some tim© in an exposed ticket lobby awaiting an ambulance, which th G . station stretchers would not tit, causing further relay while another stretcher was obtain #a. , It was admitted by both sides that the men were not trained in first-aid work, therefore none was given. The doctor said the deceased would have had a- better chance of surviving if he hed been, kept warm and had been rendered first-aid. The coroner commented on the number of like accidents throughout the Dominion, and said that they were not entirely due to the carelessness of the men. He stated that the unrest and anxiety in the service was not to l>e wondered at. It appeared as if the system was radically wrong somewhere, and suggested that a general public ni.quiry~into shunting conditions, with particular reference to Palmerston North should be held. He commented also oil the lack of first-aid knowledge, and th e delay' in summoning medical assistance, and observed that the coaching foreman in charge of the station at the time of the accident appeared to show some lack of regard for the" injured man, and more for the department.