Kee Systems - Keeping railway workers safe

December 2018

Keeping railway workers safe

20 November 2018

Britain’s railways are a vital part of everyday life, transporting freight across the country, and getting millions of passengers to where they need to go every single day of the week.

The railway system forms a backbone to the entire country, but it is also incredibly dangerous, and presents a great risk to life and limb if proper safety precautions aren’t put in place, and followed to the letter.

Few people are more at risk than the maintenance staff who access the railway and perform vital repairs and upkeep to keep the system running.

In 2017, Network Rail was fined £800,000 after a track worker was struck by a train and almost lost his arm. The worker was supervising a team of twelve on the Up Quarry line between the Redhill Tunnel and Quarry Tunnel in Surrey in 2015 when the incident took place.

The worker was walking next to the track when the passenger train, running from Gatwick Airport to London Victoria, struck his right shoulder.

Of the case, Office of Rail and Road Principal Inspector Tom Wake said: ‘This incident shows that although Britain’s railways are the safest in Europe, we can never be complacent.’

Around 350 people a year are killed on Britain’s railways, and though this number is steadily decreasing due to a focus on safety, the scale of growth in the rail sector means this focus is more important than ever.

One of the simplest and most effective ways to keep people safe on the railways is through the use of protective barriers and guardrails.

For over 70 years, Kee Systems has worked with the rail industry to help make it the safest in Europe by providing our high-quality guardrail and barrier systems, such as Kee Klamp®.

The modular design of the Kee barrier systems means they are easy and cost effective to install, meaning they can be installed quickly in most configurations, providing workers with a safe area to retreat to when not directly accessing the railway.

The most common areas where injuries occur include parapets and bridges, which present a fall risk, and along the tracks where workers can be exposed to passing trains. Kee Klamp® barriers can be installed in these areas to provide protection and separate workers from hazards.

Kee Systems recently completed a project which saw 8,000m of Kee Klamp installed along the railway line from London to Bicester, which will prevent vehicle and pedestrian access whilst allowing safe access for maintenance workers.

When a barrier is damaged, the offending section can be quickly removed and replaced, and with our hot dip galvanizing process, fittings can easily last upwards of fifty years before they need to be replaced due to wear and tear.

We also offer a powder coating service, meaning we can provide fittings in any RAL colour for full visibility or branding considerations.

For more information about our Kee Klamp® system, call us on 0208 874 6566 or use our contact form.

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