Page 17 - Report of the railway accidents investigated in 2021

2. Investigation processes
2.1 Cases to be investigated
Mandatory safety investigations of occurrences affecting railway safety by Safety Investigation Bureau are specified by the Railways Act. The list of occurrences affecting railway safety in Estonia is identical to the classification presented in the European Parliament and Council Directive (EC) 2016/798 from 11 May 2016 about railway safety. The terminology concerning railway safety is in accordance with that used in the Directive.
The Safety Investigation Bureau must immediately initiate a safety investigation of a severe or serious accident. The ESIB has a right to initiate a safety investigation if in certain circumstances an accident or incident might have caused a serious accident, as well as a technical failure of a sub-system or component of the inter-European railway system. In making the decision the ESIB must consider the severity of the accident or incident and whether it is part of a series of accidents or incidents that affect the system as a whole and its effect on railway safety. When initiating a safety investigation of an accident or incident the ESIB considers applications submitted by a safety investigation body of another European Union member state, the Consumer Protection and Technical Regulatory Authority and infrastructure managers and railway undertakings.
In addition to law and the Minister’s Directive the Safety Investigation Bureau also has an organisational “Safety Investigation manual”. Appendix R3 of the manual is called “Characteristics of a railway accident or incident for making the decision to begin a safety investigation or formulating an opinion”. It describes the process of making the decision to begin or not to initiate a safety investigation and what will be addressed in the process. At the same time, in addition to the legal bases, a risk- based assessment of the case, which is part of the decision-making process, is provided for. While collecting additional information about the occurrence the ESIB assesses the potential risk of the occurrence, the number of fatalities or injuries, fatality of a person who was known to the railway infrastructure manager to be or work at the railway as a result of the railway infrastructure manager’s equipment failure, obvious mistake or oversight of the railwayman as a probable cause of the occurrence, circumstances of similar cases, collision of rolling stock with a group of people, depending on the number of injuries and fatalities.
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Annual report 2021