Tokyo, Sept. 30 (Jiji Press)–A supervisor failed to give advance instructions on the positions of railway lookouts and evacuation locations, in violation of internal safety rules, in an August accident that killed four workers during weeding operations at a station in Kanuma, Tochigi Prefecture, Tobu Railway Co. said in an interim report Wednesday. The report was submitted to the Kanto District Transport Bureau of the transport ministry the same day. According to Tobu Railway, its safety rules required a work supervisor from Tobu Construction Co., a Tobu Railway affiliate based in Nikko, Tochigi, to serve as the site supervisor and instruct the railway lookouts where to stand and workers where to evacuate. According to the interim report, the supervisor had no experience in operations involving moving along railway tracks. The supervisor therefore effectively left instructions to a superior at Tobu Construction, who happened to be at the site despite being off duty, while the supervisor took photographs for record-keeping purposes. The accident occurred at Shin-Kanuma Station of Tobu Railway’s Nikko Line around 10:45 a.m. on Aug. 20, when a Spacia X limited express train bound for Tokyo’s Asakusa Station struck and killed four workers clearing weeds on railway tracks. A total of 10 people were involved in the work, with seven, including the supervisor, engaged in weeding. The safety rules called for one railway lookout to be positioned near the work site and two relay lookouts to be stationed near a railroad crossing about 300 meters away. About five minutes before the accident, the workers moved to an area near the accident site beneath the platform for inbound trains. The railway lookout was concerned because there was little time before the arrival of a train but did not say anything for fear of being scolded for voicing an opinion, according to the interim report. At the time of the accident, the two relay lookouts were waiting at a railroad crossing near the platform for outbound trains in the opposite direction. They were waiting for instructions to take up their assigned positions but received none, and the work had apparently already begun. As the arrival time of the train approached, one of the relay lookouts notified the railway lookout by radio that the crossing gate had come down. The railway lookout also confirmed this visually and warned the workers with an alert sound or other means. The supervisor did not hear the signal but noticed the approaching train, and the lookouts and the supervisor were able to evacuate. The superior of the supervisor and three workers, however, remained where they were with their backs to the platform and came into contact with the train. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]
