Today, firefighters' clothing is made of the lightest, most protective materials possible, London Fire Brigade said. However, this sprinkler system caused high levels of corrosion and so became disused. This was seen as a way of encouraging a safer (and more safety-conscious) culture offshore as it involves continuous self-monitoring and safety assessment. Survivors and victims' families will attend memorial events this weekend. 4 deaths. COMPREHENSIVE. Until then, the Piccadilly line could only be reached via the Victoria line or Midland City platforms, and at peak hours in one direction only. The Kings Cross fire that claimed the lives of 31 people lead to better fire safety regulation and helped companies like Wrightstyle gain a better understanding of an unknown dynamic in how a small fire can become a conflagration. martinanderson.com This disaster resonates with me personally. Is firefighting the right career for you? Additional links will be added as on-line services become available. Kings Cross itself refused to disappear from the news agenda. The possibility of a serious fire on the wooden escalators, as revealed by many earlier incidents, was a blind spot in the organisation. Thirty-one people were killed by the fire, which started beneath a wooden escalator. 1987 fire in King's Cross St Pancras tube station, London, England, A police car, three fire engines and an ambulance outside King's Cross. of Civil Engineering Canterbury University", "Report Denounces Staff Response to Deadly Fire; Top Men Quit", "Tube's only wooden escalator to carry last passengers", "Kings Cross Tragedy Means Safety First For London Underground", "London Underground (Safety Measures) Act 1991", "London Underground (King's Cross) Act 1993", "King's Cross St. Pancras Tube station doubles in size as state-of-the-art ticket hall opens", "Tottenham Court Road station's 500 million revamp completed as entrances open", "King's Cross fire: 'I was screaming in pain', "RMT calls for staffing cuts to be scrapped on 25th anniversary of Kings Cross fire", "King's Cross fire 25th anniversary marked", "King's Cross fire: Victims remembered at wreath-laying service", "King's Cross station - A Safety Accident Case Study", Fire Brigade operations London Fire Journal. Twenty years on, responsibility for death in the workplace is now being addressed by way of the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007, which came into force on April 6, 2008. Then the flashover. Of crucial importance, the emergency services were again criticised for having no radios or telephones below street level able to transmit a message more than 500 yards. [7] The LFB arrived a few minutes later, and several firemen went down to the escalator to assess the fire. If this controlling mind was not personally guilty of gross negligence manslaughter, then the company wouldnt be guilty of the offence, however poor their institutional health and safety procedures. Want to know more about your rights at work? The heat from the fire was so intense that firefighters tackling the blaze had to use their hoses to spray the backs of colleagues in a bid to keep the temperature bearable for brief period. A remembrance mass was held early on at the nearby Church of the Blessed Sacrament. London Underground was unwilling to take advice from outside, such as from the London Fire Brigade or the Health and Safety Executive. The investigation assessed 46 serious escalator fires, several of which led to serious damage and station evacuations. The act creates a new statutory offence of corporate manslaughter (to be known as corporate homicide in Scotland), where a fatality is caused by the gross breach of a duty of care and where the actions of the companys senior management played a substantial part in the breach. Lyme Bay disaster, 1993. Image: The fire began at about 7.30pm, near the end . Some of those who survived have been recalling the events of that night. Do you challenge the assumptions that you make? He condemned a complacent and ineffectual Underground management team as blinkered and dangerously self-sufficient. One November evening in 1987, a deadly fire broke out at King's Cross, London's busiest Underground station. Arson had been ruled out. Meanwhile, it was over to the Atomic Energy Authority to remodel Kings Cross Underground station using the relatively new invention of computer simulation. All those trains had recently called at Kings Cross, unwittingly to allow some of the suicide bombers to board. Fennell didnt hold back in his trenchant criticisms of London Transport. Dropped matches ignited the contaminated grease and the fire began spreading. Its a little after rush hour on that day; Christmas shopping has begun. [59], Charles Duhigg in his book The Power of Habit discusses how bad corporate culture and inefficient management led to the disaster at King's Cross. The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 is still the principal statute governing health and safety offshore, but is now supplemented by the offshore-specific regulations created post-Piper Alpha. "A police officer was shouting: 'Get out, get out'. kings cross fire 1987 corporate manslaughter 25. Regardless of the industry, the human and organisational factors that set people up to fail are the same, and in the last 30 years the organisational causes of the Kings Cross Fire have been repeated in events across many different industries. However, in November, 2007, the HSE released the findings of a three-year inspection of nearly 100 offshore installations and their equipment. kings cross fire 1987 corporate manslaughter - tickfeeds.com "There isn't a month goes by in my job that we don't reference the King's Cross fire," he said. Reflecting on her loss, Ms Tarassenko said: "You cry a lot, for a long time. kings cross fire 1987 corporate manslaughter Gross breach will occur where there has been a failure to comply with health and safety law and where an organisations conduct falls far below what can reasonably be expected. On that fateful day 31lives were lost and 100 people wereinjured. [24], Access to the Northern line platforms was indirect, its escalators connecting with the Piccadilly line. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission is strictly prohibited. This was the start of a more serious attention to health and safety in an industry which, until that time, had perhaps not fully comprehended the potential hazards of the harsh offshore high-risk industry. Energy Voice 2023. GUEST ARTICLE: What are the uses of ready mix concrete? [28] The inquiry found that the fire was most probably caused by a traveller discarding a burning match that fell down the side of the moving staircase on to the running track of the escalator. In addition, the running track of the escalator had not been cleaned since the 1940s and was covered in grease and filled with rubbish. latest news straight into your inbox. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. Sometimes, deaths can result as a direct result of corporate behaviour, for example where health and safety procedures have been ignored. Criminally, and extremely reluctantly, London Regional Transport (LRT) offered a derisory 4.5m to compensate bereaved families and survivors. As Mr Brody walked across the ticket hall he was floored by the fireball that shot up from below, and he realised his back and legs were on fire. Before the Act, it was very difficult for companies and organisations to be held responsible for deaths caused byserious safety failures. Its interesting to read in the final investigation report how the Inquiry concentrated upon the system in place which allowed the disaster to occur rather than seeking to make personal judgements upon the people involved. Although small to begin with, described . kings cross fire 1987 corporate manslaughter. Fennell was especially worried that police walkie-talkies long before the age of smartphones did not work underground, nor were there landlines. Wooden escalators were gradually replaced with metal escalators on the Underground. kings cross fire 1987 corporate manslaughter | Future Property Exhibiitons Investigators reproduced the fire twice, once to determine whether grease under the escalator was ignitable, and the other to determine whether a computer simulation of the firewhich would have determined the cause of the flashoverwas accurate. At precisely 7.30pm, a solitary gentleman, homeward bound, points out to a guard that there seems to be a bright glow beneath the Piccadilly Lines up escalator state-of-the-art when first installed. Railway accidents and incidents in the United Kingdom, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=King%27s_Cross_fire&oldid=1150701838, 20th century in the London Borough of Camden, November 1987 events in the United Kingdom, Transport in the London Borough of Camden, Pages containing London Gazette template with parameter supp set to y, Short description is different from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Lit match discarded on wooden escalator; rapid spread due to, This page was last edited on 19 April 2023, at 17:19. Brea Police Dept (@BreaPD) / Twitter As the traffic from all three tube lines would have overcrowded the Victoria line escalators, Northern line trains did not stop at King's Cross until repairs were complete. The report on the inquiry resulted in resignations of senior management in both London Underground and London Regional Transport and led to the introduction of new fire safety regulations. It is estimated that more than 1billion was invested in safety measures in the immediate aftermath of Piper Alpha. A woman was treated on scene by London Ambulance Service crews. Station officer Colin Townsley, the only firefighter killed in the tragedy, was caught up in the flashover. The blaze cracked concrete, stripped tiles from the walls and caused molten plastic to drip from the ceiling. 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Then there was the 1988 Piper Alpha Oil rig disaster in which 167 died. Thirty-one men and women die in that fierce and fearsome flashover including the the firefighter in charge, station officer Colin J Townsley (who was awarded the George Medal posthumously). [12] A police constable, Richard Kukielka, found a seriously injured man and tried to evacuate him via the Midland City platforms, but found the way blocked by a locked Bostwick gate[b] until it was unlocked by a passing cleaner. They may also wish to arrange for a legal audit of their procedures so as to ensure compliance with health and safety legislation. Posted on . In supplying glazed components to the frontage of the new Kings Cross, as well as a safe evacuation route from the main administrative areas, we have brought a wealth of experience and expertise from other UK transport infrastructure projects, as well as overseas contract in Hong Kong and Dubai. Most of the fatalities occurred when a flashover engulfed the ticket hall at the top of the escalators (hot air ignited and produced a . After all, the pit of that escalator has probably never been cleaned during its 44-year life. In the 30 years before this disaster, there had been over 400 escalator fires on the Underground system, many of these due to discarded matches. Operators are facing increasing costs of production, ageing infrastructure and decommissioning liabilities, and most appreciate that a proactive attitude towards health and safety will actually mitigate costs in the long term. These stretchers also carry several firefighters overcome with smoke inhalation and exhaustion. He declared that their staff were frequently uncoordinated, haphazard and untrained. A smoking ban was enforced, wooden escalators were removed, staff were trained in rigorous fire safety plans, and, more recently, communications between Underground staff and emergency services have been greatly improved. Lord Cullens report introduced the safety-case regime, which is laid down in a series of offshore-specific regulations. Do you question the way that you do things? The Station Operations Room was no longer staffed, contributing to a lack of communications and control. Formal inquests had simply returned 31 verdicts of accidental death. The subsequent investigation found that the corporate structure hadntadequately distributed responsibility for safety matters. However, smokers often ignored this and lit cigarettes on the escalators on their way out. VideoThe secret mine that hid the Nazis' stolen treasure, LGBT troops take love for Eurovision to front line, Why an Indian comedian is challenging fake news rules. Between 2008 and 2017 there were only 25 successful prosecutions although a further three firms were convicted of corporate manslaughter in one week in May 2017. The fire was under control at 9:48pm and was out at 01:46am on 19 November. Communications with the general public were woefully inadequate throughout the incident the Public Address system was not used and many passengers were evacuated into the line of fire. Their response to the incident was uncoordinated and haphazard. However, no public address system is working and worried passengers are still using the Victoria up escalator, only a matter of yards away. In 1988, Lord Cullen was appointed to chair the official public inquiry, the aim of which was to review the causes of the disaster and to make recommendations for reforms to prevent further catastrophes. Kings Cross itself was a complex intersection of five Underground and three Intercity lines, across five levels below ground. David Fitzsimons, a Metropolitan Police superintendent, told reporters: "We are talking about a major tragedy; many people are horribly burned. Nobody could reproduce the flashover. It became law in 2008 when the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 came into force. Attempts had been made to prosecute for manslaughter for deaths arising from disasters, for example following the Hatfield and Southall rail crashes, but all such attempts had failed. The Inquiry proposed a new, proactive approach to safety management. Recommendations from internal inquiries into accidents either did not reach the right people or were not acted on or seen through. Learn about our origins, and how The Great Fire of London changed everything Never miss an exhibition or event with the London Fire Brigade Museum updates newsletter. Start your Independent Premium subscription today. Apr 7. [56] Further commemoration services were held on 18 November 2002, the 15th anniversary of the blaze, on the 20th anniversary in 2007 at the station itself,[56] on the 25th anniversary in 2012 at the Church of the Blessed Sacrament near the station,[57] and on the 30th anniversary in 2017 at the station, with the laying of a wreath. On July 6, 1988, a . The trench effect and eruptive wildfires: lessons from the King's Cross Underground disaster. It seems that staff and the response teams had been set up to fail. When did fire brigades begin and why? The fire began at approximately 19:30 on 18 November 1987 at King's Cross St Pancras tube station, a major interchange on the London Underground. [60], Coordinates: .mw-parser-output .geo-default,.mw-parser-output .geo-dms,.mw-parser-output .geo-dec{display:inline}.mw-parser-output .geo-nondefault,.mw-parser-output .geo-multi-punct{display:none}.mw-parser-output .longitude,.mw-parser-output .latitude{white-space:nowrap}513149N 00726W / 51.5304N 0.1239W / 51.5304; -0.1239. A test was conducted where lit matches were dropped on the escalator to see if ignition would occur. Godfrey Holmesreturns to the scene of the disaster to see what lessons have been learned, Find your bookmarks in your Independent Premium section, under my profile. (Twenty years later, following several suicide bombs on London Underground trains, the same communications issues were raised). Another rescuer this time in a tunnel far below the blaze kicks and wrenches at the padlocked iron gate that blocks off Midland City, as it was then known, dampening is his only hope of saving the casualty in his charge. "It's a shocking thing and every time something like that happens - whether it's Grenfell, or a terrorist incident - you think of all the people who are getting that news.". There was no system in place to conduct or learn from safety audits. Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window), Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window), Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window), Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window), Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window), Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window), Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window), Non-Technical Skills (Crew Resource Management), Situation awareness: Making sense of the world, The decision diary: How to make better decisions, COVID-19: Mental wellbeing in the workplace, COVID-19 and High Reliability Organisations, Measuring workload: Theres an App for that. [17] On a television program about the fire, an official described King's Cross underground station's layout as "an efficient furnace". There was also little liaison between the Inspectorate and the London Fire Brigade. In the last 30 years, Ive heard this conclusion echoed in many other disasters. What does your organisation accept as inevitable? It is important to note that although the act creates a new offence, it does not impose any new obligations on employers. But no amount of wind in the wake of train movement produces an upward force of more than eight miler per hour; too small a gust to make much difference. Fire or smoke detection had never been installed. It seems to me that the staff were totally unprepared to meet the disaster which happened that night and had to do the best they could in the circumstances. The efforts to improve London Underground since 1987 mean it is now considered one of the safest metro systems in the world, according to managing director Mark Wild. The King's Cross fire claimed the lives of 31 people including a senior ranked firefighter and seriously injured many more at King's Cross station. Almost immediately after the Kings Cross disaster, smoking was scheduled for prohibition everywhere on the Underground, something that entered into law as part of a brace of fire safety regulations in 1989. The end result matched the eyewitness accounts of the fire, but the simulation's depiction of the fire burning parallel to the 30 slope of the escalator was thought by some to be unlikely and it was suspected that the programming might be faulty. During the Kings Cross Fire and subsequent crises and evacuations of this station, Transport for Londons emergency response has not been up to scratch: there are surely lessons to be learned if another disaster of these proportions is to be avoided. They threw water on his burns as he stared at the skin that was hanging off his hands. Lord Cullens report brought to light substantial and significant failings in the UK offshore safety regime as a whole and made 106 recommendations, all of which were accepted by the Government and by industry. The fire started under a wooden escalator serving the Piccadilly line and, at 19:45, erupted in a flashover into the underground ticket hall, killing 31 people and injuring 100. There was some delay before London Fire Brigade were called, and the flashover occurred within two minutes of their arrival in the ticket hall. "So as the trains were moving through, pushing the air up through that main concourse area, the heat was intensified. After all, two Tube trains, not one, swept through the Kings Cross Piccadilly line tunnel at precisely 7.42pm on the night. "I could hardly walk and was screaming in pain, very, very loudly," he said. [16] The fire was declared out at 01:46 the following morning. Management considered fires to be inevitable. The management remained of the view that fires were inevitable on the oldest and most extensive underground system in the world. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Investigators were able to replicate that dreadful quarter-hour in its entirety, including the sudden release of poisonous gases within the highly restricted space of an Underground station. She said: "[London Underground] were slow [to make improvements] in the late 80s, early 90s, but I feel far more confident than I used to in the Underground.". King's Cross fire - Wikipedia kings cross fire 1987 corporate manslaughter It is unfortunate that this was not the pervading view in the organisation, otherwise the disaster may have been averted. Technically, organisations could face the same manslaughter charges as individuals, but it was tricky: the prosecution would first have to show that a senior individual within it, who embodied the company, was guilty of the offence. Human error, human performance and investigations. Thirty years since the King's Cross fire claimed the lives of 31 people, BBC News talks to survivors of the tragedy. As Lord Brennan said in the House of Lords: How can it be that such events can occur, and be found to have occurred as the result of the grossest of negligence, yet no one suffers a criminal penalty?. Chartered Human Factors Professional The conclusion was that this newly discovered trench effect had caused the fire to flash over at 19:45. . kings cross fire 1987 corporate manslaughter - training.rmc.in Poor plant design was another major factor it is notable that the fireproof walls of the platform had never actually been upgraded to blast walls, as was required after gas conversion equipment was installed in 1980. Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Martin Anderson Pressure to produce oil is possibly at its highest. The challenge for the industry lies in not only improving the standard of rigs, plant and equipment, but constantly improving attitudes and behaviour. [45], By 1997, the majority of the recommendations of the Fennell report had been implemented, with safety improvements including the removal of any hazardous materials, CCTV fitted in stations, installation of fire alarms and sensors and the issuing of personal radios to staff. But he somehow found his way to the steps at the bottom of the south side of the exit to Euston Road. Introduction to human factors & work psychology. The 7.15pm fire that gained momentum so speedily, so unpredictably, was not finally extinguished until 1.40am the next morning, by which time Londons fire commissioner, Ron Dobson, was preparing a statement for the BBC. While the investigation into the fire is still ongoing, and criminal liability (if any) for the fire has yet to be established, its still always worth taking a look at the offence of corporate manslaughter and its history. [21] An initially unidentified man, commonly known as "Michael" or "Body 115" after its mortuary tag, was identified on 22 January 2004, when forensic evidence confirmed he was 73-year-old Alexander Fallon of Falkirk, Scotland. Some 150 would spend the following hours helping trapped and injured people reach paramedics on the street above. And in the entire litany of catastrophic blazes that have blighted Britain in the decades since the Blitzkrieg of 1939-41 Piper Alpha, British Airtours Flight 28M, Grenfell Tower the Kings Cross disaster of 18 November 1987 guards its secrets from everyone fortunate enough not to have been there, or known to someone who was.