Southall rail crash

In addition to reducing performance efficiency, the employment of operators with substandard competence levels within safety-critical systems can have grave consequences. For example, a review of major accidents in the hazardous industries indicated that a lack of operator skills and/or knowledge led to the errors that contributed to the accidents analyzed (Wright et al., 2003). Wright et al. (2003) also referred to the Southall rail crash, the Piper Alpha oil rig disaster, the Longford Esso Gas plant explosion, and the Hickson Welch fire as examples of incidents where staff incompetence played a part and where staff competency levels were not sufficiently tested by the organizations involved. 

The importance of a safety culture cannot be understated. Safety culture has been identified as a contributory factor in many catastrophic incidents occurring within the hazardous industries in recent times, including the Ladbroke Grove and Southall rail crashes, Texas BP refinery explosion, the Challenger and Columbia space shuttle disasters, and the Piper Alpha oil platform disaster (Hendershot, 2007). 

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