One dead, four hurt in Hunter Valley railway disaster

A HORRIFIC rail accident in which one man was killed and four others
seriously injured may have been the result of human error.

The Contruction, Forestry, Mining and Electricity Union said today that
the accident in the Hunter Valley late on Tuesday night was likely a result
of a ground crew error. Crews contracted to the Abigroup construction
company were working on a section of rail line at Telarah about 11pm
when a 30-tonne piece of prefabricated track dropped from an on-site
crane, crushing the men below.

Ralph Grigull, whose house backs onto the line, said he was lying in bed
when he heard a crashing sound outside. “It sounded like a truck dumping
its load and then keeling over – you could tell it was an unusual sort of
sound,” he said. “I went outside and one of the lads told me a load had
slipped and that there was a bloke bleeding profusely.” One man died at
the scene, while another two were airlifted to the John Hunter Hospital
with critical arm and leg injuries.

Two others with less serious injuries were taken by road to Maitland
Hospital. It is understood that one of the critically injured men was
undergoing emergency surgery this morning. Police and WorkCover
investigators returned to the scene this morning to examine the dropped
load and the crane.

CFMEUsenior organiser Peter Harris said this morning that from his
conversations with management at the scene, “it would seem there has been
some sort of human error”. “From what I can gather, the employees may
have been trying to remove components from the load while it was under
the control of the crane crew,” he said. Mr Harris explained that a
300-tonne crane like the one used at the site by subcontractor Boom
Logistics would have an operator and a man on the ground controlling the
load. Under

WorkCover guidelines, crane crew members are responsible for the load
and no other workers should be involved until the it is on the ground, Mr
Harris said. If the employees were trying to do something with that load
it’s something that is going to have to be very closely examined,” he said.

Crews who were on the scene at the time have been offered counselling
today. Work on the line, which is used by coal trains and the intercity
passenger service connecting Newcastle with the state’s north-west, began
late last year. It is managed by the Australian Rail Track Corporation,
which has contracted the job to Abigroup.

Ref: The Daily Telegraph., 25th March 2009