Page 13 - Report of the railway accidents investigated in 2021

Annual report 2021
8) Immediate access to the results of an investigation of a person connected to the case.
9) Have access to the relevant information and documents held by the Infrastructure Manager involved in the occurrence, the entity in charge of maintenance and the Consumer Protection and Technical Regulatory Authority.
1.3 Organisation
The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications consists of many structural units, one of which the Safety Investigation Bureau. The ESIB is located in the same building as other structural units of the Ministry but on a separate floor. In order to perform specific tasks, a corresponding special status has been granted to the ESIB. In order to ensure the special status in practice, the ESIB officials have their workplaces in offices, while other officials of the Ministry mostly work in an open office. Legally the ESIB’s special status has been guaranteed by relevant articles of the Aviation Act, Maritime Safety Act and Railways Act. The ESIB utilises other departments’ competencies and works in cooperation with them but maintains complete independence in decisions relating to the requirement of cooperation and the extent of utilising of their competencies. Other structural units of the Ministry have the role of providing ancillary services to the ESIB. The ESIB’s work schedule forms a part of the Ministry’s work schedule and it reflects its main activities.
The Safety Investigation Bureau has its own logo, letterhead, website, and an independent budget that has been approved by the Parliament. All other departments use the Ministry’s relevant general attributes. An ESIB official has a certificate of employment. The certificate of employment enables its carrier to exercise the special rights granted to him by legislation while carrying out his official tasks. The certificate of employment can be used as a form of identification and includes a brief list of the objects to which it grants access as well its European Union and national legal bases. The certificate of employment of a railway accidents investigator is valid until 1 February 2022.
The Safety Investigation Bureau’s work is led by a director. There are three officials working under him, an aviation accident investigation expert, a chief specialist in marine accident investigation and a chief specialist in railway accident investigation. In 2021 an additional working committee of officials was formed whose task is to give an initial assessment of the circumstances of the sinking of the passenger ferry “Estonia” in 1994.
Only the Safety Investigation Bureau has the right to make the decision whether to initiate a safety investigation of an accident, serious accident, or an incident. The
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