Page 22 - Report of the railway accidents investigated in 2023

Annual report 2023 time criterion for deciding to initiate a safety investigation is stipulated in Section 50,
Subsection 5 of the Railways Act, which is based on the Directive 2016/798 on railway safety. At the latest one week after the decision to initiate the safety investigation has been made, the railway accident investigator will forward the information to the European Agency for Railways (ERA) in the correct format. The format for forwarding the information has been established by ERA. The obligation to notify the ERA has been specified in Section 50 (7) of the Railways Act. Up till now the deadline for notifying the European Union Agency for Railways has never been missed.
The safety investigations of all accidents and incidents of different modes of transport organised by the Safety Investigation Bureau are conducted based on a unified multimodal approach. The unified approach has been confirmed by The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications Directive No 72 “Safety Investigation Procedures” and the ESIB Director has approved the “Safety Investigation Manual” of work procedures. The manual consists of a common main part and annexes which can be common to all three areas of transport or can be area specific.
The whole safety investigation is usually conducted by the official responsible for investigating accidents in the relevant field who performs the duties of investigator-in- charge. The investigator-in-charge informs all relevant parties of the launch of a safety investigation and drafts an investigation plan. He may make changes and clarifications to the draft during the safety investigation but is fully responsible for conducting of the entire safety investigation as well as its quality and compliance. The investigator-in-charge coordinates the gathering, storage and analysis of data and evidence as well as the contracting of experts and communications with relevant individuals or organisations. The investigator-in-charge organises and performs all necessary activities relating to the investigation. If necessary, in case of particularly serious accidents, the Director of the Safety Investigation Bureau may form a committee to conduct a safety investigation. An appropriate format has been developed for the formation of the committee. The division of work between the members of the committee and the planned investigation directions are decided by the committee.
In the autumn of 2023, the Safety Investigation Bureau compiled the list of freelance experts for different areas of transport. For this purpose, a work organisation manual for the involvement of experts was developed. The involvement of an expert is decided by the senior investigator of the field or the Director of the ESIB if there is an urgent and operational need for this. The expert is employed using a mandate agreement. Before formalising the contract, on each occasion the potential expert must give their consent to apply their knowledge to the occurrence. In the railway sector 7 individuals gave their consent to be included in the list of experts.
The investigator-in-charge is free to choose the working style and methods most suitable to him. The correctness of the choice depends on the most suitable methods 22