health & safety

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 HEALTH & SAFETY ALERT Non Crossrail – Network Rail – Defective Hydraulic Hoses What happened:

New points installations have taken place throughout the south of England this year without incident. However, on inspection of the Rail Clamp Point Lock on a recently installed set of points (during a follow up site visit) it was discovered that a connecting hydraulic hose had started to bulge. The hose was changed and a check was organised of other, recently installed points arrangements. The check (visual inspection) identified a further two defective hoses on two other sets of points.

Rail Clamp Point Lock and Bulging Hydraulic Hose

Bulging Hydraulic Hose

The pressure inside these hoses is enough to cause serious injury to bystanders if they rupture. It's widely documented that a hydraulic injection resulting from raptured pressurised equipment can pierce the skin and cause unknown internal damage as well as infection, if not treated correctly. Other issues that could follow such an incident are environmental spills, loss of point drive or even a fire hazard . Some points where have been known to catch fire e.g. in Swindon, where hydraulic fluid spilt onto points heating equipment and ignited, causing trains to stop running and requiring a complete point renewal due to the severe fire damage. Required Action: Please communicate this alert to your staff;

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Be vigilant on sites where we are installing or working adjacent to Clamp Lock Point Work. Report back (close-call) any suspected hose issues. Network Rail and the manufacturer are looking into the issue, when further information becomes available we will reissue this alert.

Date: 11th May 2017