JUDGES’ COMMENTS

Nottingham had a bad day on January 12, with a murder closing part of the tram system, a power outage at the other end of it, a major fire in the station and, in the middle of it, two buses colliding outside the station.

The teamwork was built on the competence of the EMT contribution, desktop exercises with the emergency services and the application of agreed [Joint Emergency Services Incident] protocol with support from NR and BTP.

The initial report to the emergency services was calm and concise and as they arrived and saw the efficiency of the evacuation, chose to include the railway agencies in the joint command structure. This is a rare statement of confidence in the competence of a site owner and indicates fresh thinking and behaviour.

Having established that the only casualties were two railway staff who had inhaled smoke, the objective became avoiding disruption and communicating with the public to assist with travel plans. Cordons were established but access was kept reasonable through cooperative partnership, rather than a site ownership hierarchy.

As a result of this and other intensive cooperation within the team, the station opened for traffic at 0500 the following morning, minimising disruption.

The whole exercise has been written up for the learning of others, to reduce the risks associated with any similar incidents.