Safety information
At QR, we believe in the philosophy of ZERO Harm. Our ZERO Harm belief goes beyond our work environment - it is a part of our daily life, our families, our friends and our community. It is a way of thinking, doing and being.
ZERO Harm is a journey towards:
- Zero Injuries
- Zero Incidents
- Zero work related illnesses
- Zero environmental incidents.
As we continue our journey to ZERO Harm, a key focus is being taken on safety and achieving one of the key elements of ZERO Harm - ZERO Injuries.
Our Safety Vision is to be world-class in safety
Our Safety Goal is ZERO Injuries - Nobody gets hurt
Our five Safety Principles are:
- Safety is the core QR value
- All injuries can be prevented
- Management is accountable for creating and maintaing a safe workplace
- We are ALL responsible for preventing injuires
- Working safely is a condition of employment
QR is also undertaking a four-year safety program to improve the safety performance and culture of QR.
Ensuring that the rail corridor is safe is a responsibility we share with our neighbours. We provide signage, fencing, signals and we post information about safety along the corridor. We ask that people accept accountability for the following:
- Only enter and leave railway property through a proper entrance or exit;
- Do not walk along or transit the corridor in any places other than those specifically designated for public;
- Do not enter trains that are not designed for passengers, eg. freight trains.
Corridor safety - vandalism / trespassing
Railway premises that are not designated public areas, such as the railway corridor, the track, and overhead structures should not be approached, accessed or entered by the general public.
Trespassing on the track, including fishing from rail bridges, walking along the tracks or placing obstructions are all illegal acts that could derail a train and can be prosecuted.
Whether you’re at a railway crossing, on a platform or on a train, being RailSmart is about taking responsibility for your own actions and keeping yourself and others safe
Railway crossings / crossing the tracks
Most collisions involving a train and a car, truck, motorcyclist or pedestrian happen as a result of carelessness.
It takes a considerable distance for a train to stop – sometimes up to 2 kilometres.
Over 80% of fatal accidents at railway level crossings in Australia happen in daylight, in fine weather and on straight, dry roads. And the majority of all accidents occur even with an appropriate warning system in place.
So, whenever you are approaching any form of a railway level crossing:
- Slow down
- Look and listen
- Be prepared and stop
Be aware. Look, listen and live.
At all level crossings, if the red lights are flashing or if there is a danger of the vehicle colliding with a train, the driver of the vehicle is responsible for stopping and must not enter the crossing.
In all other situations, railway tracks must be traversed using overhead footbridges, tunnels or subways and level crossings. Any other form of crossing is hazardous and illegal.
Using pushbikes, rollerblades, skate boards etc. on overhead bridges and platforms is not permitted as this can lead to dangerous situations when trains enter or leave the station.
For more information visit the railway crossing page.
Electrified areas
QR Network’s Brisbane Metropolitan systems, the main line from Brisbane to Rockhampton and most of the coal lines in Central Queensland are electrified at 25,000 Volts. The safety of the public and passengers when they are in proximity of these power lines is an absolute priority for QR Network. We are careful to place highly visible signage and information to direct the public to designated safe areas such as platforms and recognised pedestrian crossings.
In emergencies, the directions of QR or emergency services personnel must be followed.
SPADs
A SPAD occurs when a train passes a red signal without permission. It is not the same as driving through a red traffic light because QR has multiple layers of protection before and after red signals to prevent collisions.
In the vast majority of circumstances our drivers are 100% focussed on the job. While it's disappointing that distractions occur very occasionally it is a human reality and that's precisely why we have multiple levels of safety protection.
QR has a public safety record of which we can be justifiably proud. The fact is that every day, we safely carry more than 170,000 passengers to their destinations on our Citytrain, long-distance and tourist train services across the state.
When a SPAD occurs, multiple back-up mechanisms exist to ensure that the safety of passengers or people in the community is protected.
Derailments
This graph shows that the number of derailments (in red) has been decreasing at the same time as train km (in blue) have increased.
Safety and performance improvements have been achieved at the same time that train kilometres have significantly increased, with QR Network transporting record tonnages on its network, while we have kept infrastructure-caused derailments below 34 for the past three years.
This performance continues to improve as we invest in improvements such as concrete sleepers on our Mount Isa line and ongoing maintenance work across the network.
