Railway Inspectorate British Railways

Thanks must go to the numerous individuals within British Railways and also the Railway Inspectorate, who supported the research and gave up their time to be interviewed. Obviously this study could not have been undertaken without the co-operation of staff across British Railways, and it could not have proved such a rich source of data without the frankness and honesty with which they approached the interviews. The Directors of British Railways and the unions should also be thanked for exposing themselves to such scrutiny. I am very grateful to them and sincerely hope that this work has already helped to improve occupational health and safety on the railways and that it will contribute to future improvements in this and other industries. 

At the time of this research the Railway Inspectorate was dealing with a monopoly employer, namely British Railways. Inspectors did spend time with other smaller railways, such as London Transport, Tyne and Wear, the Glasgow Underground, and the numerous minor railways, such as the Severn Valley Railway... 

At the time of this research all members of the Railway Inspectorate were and always had been male. Hence I use the term he throughout in accordance with the British Sociological Association s guidelines on sexism. 

A great deal of work went into these schedules and I am grateful to colleagues at the Centre for Socio-Legal Studies, representatives of the Railway Inspectorate, the trades unions, and British Railways staff for their help in preparing these schedules which were so vital to the research. 

This accident accelerated the development and implementation by British Rail of its Total Quality Management Initiative with associated internal and external auditing. The Railway Inspectorate s remit in monitoring safety of the railways was extended and transferred from the Department of Transport to the Health and Safety Executive in order to improve its degree of independence. This accident was instrunoental in the establishment of a requirement for railway Safety Cases. 

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