“SAFETY FIRST!”

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LIV, 24 March 1921, Page 7

“SAFETY FIRST!”

■— DUTIES Oil RAU.WAY SERVANTS 'ti interesting siatcnient, dealing ». i;!i iho duties of railway servants, was made at tlu' 'silting of the Railway .i.|>t■;il Hoard Die other day by Mr. •). Mr.-on. who appeared on behalt ot Du’ 11 |>a i t men). ■'Tin' satel.y of the travelling public.’' said'Mi. Mason, “is. and must be. tire lirst care of the administration of Dio Denartmen t. I o this end large sums of money have been '.spent in the n.'ovision of safety appliances, tnitl in improving engines, rolling stock. and the permanent way. But. no matter vln.t appliances may be employed., the prevention of accidents rests with the human conation, and it is only by the insistence on the part of tho management upon a rigid observance ot (lie ie'.;nlations by (he stall employed in "t.lir* running ol trains that accidents will be avoided. The driver of a (rain holds the safety of it, and possibly of other i rains, in his bands. His responsibilities. in common with other members of the stall’ coneerned with (be 'bandling of trains, demanded unremitting cm' and vigilance. •■To pass a signal at danger is one of the most serious offences—if not the nioM serious—a. driver ean commitand ds punishment, if it is to be effective as a deterrent %o(h tn himself and oi hors, must be coiulnionsurate with lids view. Any lowering of the penalty would necessarily lower the significance of ihe offence, and to that extent, tend in oiteonrage its frequency. Tt is tael well known to all railway administra lo s. and there is a tendency on the part, of some men performing even; the most important and responsible duties to relax their vigilance and alertness :il l w a lime. They allow (heir sense of responsibility to go to sloop, and, n consequence, their wateblubiess to 1,,.'-ome dulled. Tho danger of this in I rain work does not need to be emphasised, It is a. 'source of the greatest arsietv to every .railway management, ;md wherever it does come under nolo-■, there only one course to be followed, whirl) is |;o jolt the man back to a , realisation of bis responsibilities h\ the infliction of a punishment in keeping with the magnitude r)f tho offonce. “The effect of passing a signal at danger is irremediable; it is beyond recall. The driver delivers himself, bis train, and all that are in it over to blind chanco. To-day nothing _ may ba upon; ’to-morrow it, may bo disaster. The initial error is the same in either case. In the case of the collision ini Wales a. few weeks ago the driver was in possession of a tablet._ His negligence took the form of omitting to see tfiat it was for the right section. _ The con sequence of this simple omission was the destruction of ten or twelve lives and injury to many others. In this country serious train accidents fortunately have been comparatively rave. This, it must be acknowledged, is a tribute" to the high standard of vigilance of tho operating staff, and. while acknowledging this, let me add ihat there is no room for lowering that standard when tho consequences might e.ome to be measured in human lives. “The management has been blamed for undue severity in dealing with such ciises. What I have said will give some indication of the considerations which must weigh with those whom the Government and the country hold responsible for the safe and efficient management of the railways. It appears to be overlooked that the line of least resistance lies in the direction of leniency. In the Department’s rule book, issued to every member of the staff, this rule is printed in bold typo at the head of every page ; ‘The first and most important duty of every member is to provide for the safety of the public. Tins rule is just as binding on the management as upon the staff in the yard, signal-box, and on the foot-plate. Let me quote the remarks of an American Stale Commission’s inspector, commenting upon a recent accident there. He savs: ‘Men do not ordinarily become careless, lose their sense of responsibilit}', and wilfully disobey rules that they know are necessary for safety unless the management of the company also becomes careless and pernfits violation's to go unchecked.’ “This is perfectly true. It condenses in a sentence the arguments that 1 have placed before this board that the maintenance of tho discipline of the staff is vital in the interests of the public safety.”