TAIC report: Plimmerton train stopped 5m from workers after emergency brake pulled
A rail safety report revealed that a train narrowly avoided hitting a worker after a protection officer used an unauthorized safety procedure at a Plimmerton worksite. The officer bypassed standard blocking protocols, opting for a less secure method because they had forgotten their equipment.
Why it matters
The incident underscores the critical importance of strict adherence to safety protocols in high-risk industrial environments to prevent workplace fatalities.
A train stopped five metres from where a worker had been kneeling on railway tracks after a trainee driver slammed on the emergency brake in a “near miss” north of Wellington .
A Transport Accident Investigation Commission report found a rail protection officer (RPO) used a safety system they knew wasn’t allowed at the Plimmerton worksite.
The empty passenger train was being used for driver training . It was going 62km/h and had rounded a curve when the trainee driver spotted people in orange high-vis clothing on the North Island Main Trunk line on May 8 last year.
The RPO had been using the “individual train detection” (ITD) safety process at the worksite, meaning trains could travel at normal speed while the RPO watched for approaching trains.
However, ITD wasn’t allowed at the site, and the RPO knew that, the commission wrote.
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