Transport for London expresses concern about Crossrail safety

Transport for London is scrutinising the health and safety record of companies working on the Crossrail project after five workers have been injured since July 2019.

The latest incident was one in which scaffolders were injured. A report by Transport for London states:

"There was a serious accident at Farringdon station where two scaffolders were injured when the scaffolding they were working on collapsed.”

There have also been several near-miss incidents reported.

All worksites are in a stand-down status while investigations are made into how the Target Zero policy is being implemented. Target Zero is a Crossrail policy that is designed to improve health and safety. It contains “golden rules” that must be followed to create a safe working environment.

Safety inspections are being held at all Crossrail sites. Safety is especially important as train testing has been started. The management team of the £16.6bn Crossrail scheme has said it is focusing on eliminating health and safety risks that affect construction workers, along with employees and members of the public when the railway is operational.

Many businesses have documents like Crossrail’s Target Zero that lay down health and safety procedures that include risk assessment systems, the use of PPE (personal protection equipment) and the safe use of tools and equipment. The Crossrail situation suggests that these documents by themselves are not always enough and that safety procedures or “golden rules” have to be implemented by all workers and management at the workplace.