HEALTH

HEALTH & SAFETY EXECUTIVE - DRAFT FOR CONSULTATION

Model Engineering: Guidance on safe operation of miniature railways and model traction engines

Introduction

Scope

This guidance is intended for those model engineers operating miniature railways and traction engines as a hobby activity, either under the auspices of a club/society or as individuals, where they may give rides to members of the public or be operating in locations where the public may have access. This guidance is inappropriate for any organisation which employs people or operates commercially for financial reward or gain. Such organisations are referred to the Fairgrounds and Amusement Parks: Guidance on safe practice HSG 175 and other relevant legislation made under the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974.

About this guidance

The need for this guidance has arisen because the complete application of the fairgrounds guidance to private clubs is inappropriate. However, the fairgrounds guidance does contain much useful information. It is suggested that you should obtain a copy for reference.

This guidance has been prepared after consultation with:

· FMEMS

· GLG5 Association

· Midlands Federation of Model Engineering Societies

· Northern Association of Model Engineers

· Southern Federation of Model Engineering Societies

· The 7¼" Society

· The Society of Model and Experimental Engineers

It is specifically aimed at those building and operating miniature railways and traction engines. It describes the legal requirements, managing health and safety, risk assessment, inspection procedures for both pre-service and in service use and the duty of care when buying and selling equipment.

Legal requirements

The Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 places duties of care in health and safety terms on various dutyholders including employers; self-employed people; those who conduct their undertakings in ways that could affect the health and safety of others; designers; manufacturers; suppliers; operators and inspectors.

Managing health and safety

You should follow 5 key stages in order to manage health and safety:

1. Setting your policy

Your club or society should prepare a clear health and safety policy statement. Attached to the policy statement should be details of the organisation and arrangements (rules) for the health and safety of members and visitors/members of the public with sufficient detail to identify individual responsibilities.

2. Organising yourself

You should use a system of steps and checks that will ensure the club or society operates in a safe manner. Individual operators need to set up a similar system. A recommended list of steps and checks is set out in Table 1 which, if adopted, will ensure safe working and thereby compliance with legal requirements.

Table 1: Steps and checks for the management of health and safety

Steps	Checks	Description
Design		Designers are responsible for drawing up safety requirement specification based on risk assessment of safety critical parts of the design.
Manufacture		The production and assembly of a model to design specification.
	Pre-service inspection	To include assessment of the design of safety critical parts; a check that construction matches design specification and that a functional test to verify that safety critical parts of a model or equipment meet the design specification.
Operations Manual		Full instructions for safe operation of equipment including documentary proof of pre- service inspections, recommended in service maintenance inspection and any other records.
Maintenance		Servicing, replacement or repair of components to maintain equipment in safe working order.
	Daily check	Visual and functional check, prior to operating, of all models and equipment to check for any deterioration or malfunction.
Supervision		Management and overseeing of safe operation by appointing club safety officer, person- in-charge of day operation, allocation of duties to attendants and signing-on of drivers and attendants
	In service inspection	Periodic inspection to determine whether model or equipment can continue to be used based on deterioration as detected and remedied.
Emergency procedures		What to do in case of accident and emergency.

3. Planning and implementation

You should appoint a person-in-charge for each operating session who will ensure that laid down procedures are followed.

You need to ensure that all operators and attendants are competent which means that they have suitable knowledge and expertise for tasks they undertake. Many accidents can be caused by human factors rather than by equipment failures.

You need to ensure that the operations manual

· includes operating instructions for track and ancillary equipment;

· includes maintenance standards;

· defines the number of persons who need to be in attendance to ensure safe operation;

· includes outline emergency procedures to be taken in the case of accident, fire, etc;

· contains all safety documents, documentary proof and records of testing.

You need to keep the following records:

· Operating log - recording dates and details of public running.

· Maintenance logs.

· Records of member and driver competency.

· Accident Book - record all incidents and names of witnesses, notify accidents involving general public to HSE or Local Authority.

· Insurance details including public liability insurance if appropriate

Individual owners of models need to maintain their own records including a log book giving design details, boiler testing and maintenance records.

4. Measure performance

You need to examine performance at the end of the season or at the annual general meeting. Compare it to the previous year's running or to performance of other similar clubs or societies.

5. Reviewing performance and make changes where appropriate.

You need to carry out a review and consider changes at annual meetings or at other times when operating procedures are under discussion.

Risk assessment

You should carry out risk assessment to a degree necessary which is proportional to the risk. A risk assessment is a careful examination how known hazards could occur and cause harm to anyone so that judgements can be made to determine appropriate control measures or precautions which need to be adopted to avoid risk or to reduce risk.

The result of risk assessment is more important than the method used. The findings of any risk assessment, that is the control measures or precautions, need to be fully documented.

You should carry out risk assessment regularly and review it at least every three years or sooner if modifications or new equipment causes changes in the way that you operate.

(See Appendix A for guidance on the ranking of risk and a typical list of topics that might need to be considered).

Inspection

One of the ways that you can reduce risk is to avoid the possibility of failure by carrying out regular inspection. Inspection needs to be carried out by a competent person. In this context competency implies that they have the knowledge and expertise relative to the equipment concerned. Inspectors should know their own limitations and not be expected to have an understanding on all matters. Where presented with a particular issue outside their knowledge they should seek the opinion of someone more suitably qualified.

Inspectors need to be seen as being "independent" and have authority so that their views are respected. This is particularly important if they are inspecting their own club's equipment or layout. Inspectors need to ensure that they do not inspect their own work or anything which they have been closely involved as designer, owner or builder. It is recommended that where possible society/club owned equipment (including track and other fixed assets) should be inspected by a competent person from another society or club.

"Individual" operators will need to seek the services of inspectors from other sources. Whilst some organisations within the hobby might be able to provide a pool of competent persons willing to offer their inspection services to individuals, there may be restrictions on insurance cover which would not extend to those who do not wish to become members of clubs or societies. In these cases individuals would have to arrange their own insurance cover or use insurance company inspectors.

Keeping of records

You need to keep all inspection records for at least 10 years, but permanently if possible. This will enable a complete history to be formed and it will help you with future risk assessments.

Pre-service inspection

It is important that all safety critical equipment is designed and constructed to high standards and be fit for purpose. You need to ensure that the design concept of any item of safety critical equipment is sound. All relevant information together with any inspection reports should be kept together. Designs are preferably checked prior to manufacture.

It is recommended that anyone publishing a design checks that the design concept is sound and that the necessary information is published to support these facts.

Anyone creating their own design or deviating from a published design for a model or piece of equipment needs to undertake their own design check and to make the information subsequently available to an inspector.

The safety critical areas which may need to be considered are listed in Appendix B.

On completion of manufacture the maker needs to be able to show to an inspector that the model or piece of equipment conforms with the original design specification in safety critical areas. Any deviation from original design specification also needs to be made known to the inspector together with any details of safety critical modifications. If the inspector considers that a design has been built to the original specification or to an agreed modification he will confirm it in writing.

Initial test

You need to ensure that prior to first use models or equipment are examined and tested. Any steam powered model should undergo and pass the relevant boiler testing procedure before first steaming and then on the first occasion that it is steamed.

In service inspection

You need to regularly inspect all models and equipment and subjected them to re-testing where appropriate. These periodic inspections need to be recorded in the log book relevant to the model/equipment and signed by the inspector.

Daily checks

You should ensure that a competent person makes a daily check of those parts of equipment which could affect safe operation before any member of the public is allowed to use or ride on the equipment.

Buying and selling

When selling goods the vendor has a duty of care to ensure that the goods are suitable for the purpose intended and provided with sufficient information for safe operation. If a model or piece of equipment is sold the seller should provide the relevant safety documents, logs etc. If the seller has no knowledge of the item it can be sold provided that the buyer is advised that safety improvements may be necessary to bring the item up to modern standards. This advice should be recorded in writing between the two parties concerned.

Appendix A - Risk ranking

Use a ranking system such as the formula below to identify which risks need addressing first:

Ranking=Likelihood x Severity

Risk ranking	Action Required
High	Take immediate action to reduce risk.
Medium	Should be avoided - take action if possible to reduce risk.
Low	Acceptable - but monitor the situation.
Negligible	No action required - but don't be complacent

The following list may be used as a prompt for topics that may need consideration when undertaking a risk assessment. It is not intended to be complete and additional topics may need to be added to suit your circumstances.

Access; Animals; Barriers; Brakes; Bystanders; Cinders; Competency of drivers, guards, station personnel etc; Couplings, Derailments; Electricity; Explosion, Exits; Fencing; Fire; First Aid; Gardening equipment; Gauge glasses; Guards (Entrapment of fingers in models); Ground conditions; Handling; Hot Surfaces; Locomotives; Maintenance; Obstacles; Passengers; Passenger carriages; Paving; Refuelling; Security; Signalling; Sparks; Speed limits; Stations; Steam; Testing; Tracks (permanent and portable); Traction Engines; Tools; Turntables; Vegetation; Vehicles; Walkways; Warning signs; Weather; Workshop equipment.

Appendix B - Safety critical areas

· Safety critical areas are those involving the following items:

· Track gauge

· Flangeway clearances

· Wheelset dimensions

· Suspension systems and bogie mountings

· Buffing/coupling systems

· Braking systems

· Boilers

· Safety valves

· Injector and feed water pumps

· Emergency systems

· Audible warning device

· Cylinder drain valves