Last week saw a day of mixed emotions at Somercotes Rail.  They belatedly marked the success of their 15 year LTI free milestone from September 2019 with commemorative jackets for employees.

Sadly, they also held a stand down in support of our customer, Network Rail, to reflect on the double fatality in 2019 when two Network Rail employees were tragically killed when struck by a train during maintenance work on track.

Our hearts go out to those families affected by this devastating incident.

They discussed the causes of the incident the heart-breaking consequences on those affected. They also discussed the risks in our own operations and the learnings we can take from this incident.

Whilst achieving 15 years LTI free is a fantastic achievement and is driven by the dedication of the whole team at Somercotes collectively putting health and safety at the forefront of all we do, this incident also acts as a sobering reminder that safety has no memory.

All the experience and training in the world counts for nothing if we let complacency creep into our daily activities.