Published on 16/08/23 582 Views

A freight train with 5 locomotives, a control car, a buffer car and 72 Class 111 tank cars containing 7.7million litres (48,400 barrels) of Bakken crude oil had been parked on the main line at a dedicated crew change point. The track at the point had a downward slope. The solitary locomotive ‘engineer’ applied hand brakes on all 5 locomotives and 2 other cars and shut down all but the front locomotive. The engineer tested the hand brakes required by railway regulations, but the air brakes had been left on during this test. Soon after the engineer left, a fire was reported in the front locomotive. Firefighters turned off electrical breakers in the locomotive to stop fuel circulation feeding the fire. 2 hours after the firefighters and track foreman departed the scene, the train began to roll downhill, reaching a speed of 101 km/h (63mph) over a distance of 11km (7miles). 63 of the 72 tank cars derailed in downtown and many of them ruptures releasing ~ 6 million litres (37,700 barrels) of crude oil. A huge fire and several explosions followed, killing 47 people. The lake and river were polluted with crude oil.

Ask yourself and your crew:

How can something like this happen here (e.g. on our site)?
What safety measures (i.e. procedures, controls/barriers) do we have in place to mitigate the risk?
How do we know the risk controls/barriers are working?
What improvements or changes should we make to the procedures, controls/barriers or the way we work?

Original content courtesy of IChemE Safety Centre