HEALTH AND SAFETY AT WORK, ETC., ACT 1974

FIRE SUPPRESSION SYSTEMS ON FIRST GENERATION 'HERITAGE' DIESEL MULTIPLE UNITS / RAILCARS

The Health and Safety Executive responded on 18 September 2003 to The Railcar Association’s enquiry as to how a preserved railway may operate first generation diesel railcars, given the requirement at the end of 2003 to cease using systems containing halon as a fire suppressant. 

The position of the Health and Safety Executive is as follows:

“The substitution of halon by AFFF as a fire suppressant is the preferred route that owners and operators of heritage diesel multiple units / railcars should consider.  If during this consideration it is deemed not reasonably practicable to do so, then any owner or operator of a heritage diesel multiple unit / railcar, who is contemplating the removal of automatic fire suppression equipment, must confirm in writing to the appropriate office of the Health and Safety Executive, that compliance with items a) to g) inclusive, listed below, will be achieved and maintained.  They should also provide details of vehicle(s), stating class, number, upon which line it is operated / maintained and the type of suppression equipment currently fitted.

a)       Only diesel multiple units / railcars that operate at 25 mph or less and operate on a preserved private railway can be modified to disable / remove the automatic fire suppression equipment.  Any vehicles outside these criteria must be fitted with fire suppression equipment suitable for AFFF.

b)       Automatic engine shut down, detection apparatus and cab warning alarms must remain in operational condition.

c)       Suitable hand operated extinguishers must be carried on board, both in the passenger saloon(s) and supplemented by extinguishers securely mounted to the underframe and close to the respective engines. Staff should have been trained in how to operate this equipment so as to quickly put out any fire without placing either the public or themselves at risk.

d)       As part of the daily fitness to run examination, each engine should be checked for signs of overheating and logged / acted upon accordingly.

e)       The maintenance regime should ensure that build up of oils / greases etc. on engines are kept to a minimum.

f)         Effective arrangements should be made to ensure that a train with a reasonably full complement of passengers can be evacuated in a non station environment.  A practical exercise should be undertaken to ascertain if the arrangements were suitable and sufficient, any shortcomings being acted upon.  Should the method of operation appreciably change, then updating of the arrangements should ensue and a further practical exercise be undertaken.  A written account of the arrangements and practical exercise should be kept for inspection by any visiting HM Inspector of Railways.

g)       A written assessment should be made by each owner / operator showing how they intend to maintain, to as low as is reasonably practicable, the risk from engine fires to passengers and staff. The assessment should include the above matters and any others specific to a particular owner / operator.

HSE reiterate that the above must be complied with in full for any operation where an automatic fire suppression system has been disabled / removed.  Failure to comply will result in the owner / operator being prohibited from operation of their vehicles until the above have either been implemented or an automatic fire suppression system incorporating AFFF has been commissioned.

This information has been distributed to all operational field teams within HMRI so as to ensure consistency in approach across the country”.

TF    22/09/03