Urgent Safety Advice 01/2018: Checking that tram doors are safe before departing from tram stops
Published 7 February 2018
© Crown copyright 2018
This publication is licensed under the terms of the Open Government Licence v3.0 except where otherwise stated. To view this licence, visit nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3 or write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gov.uk.
Where we have identified any third party copyright information you will need to obtain permission from the copyright holders concerned.
This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/urgent-safety-advice-012018-checking-that-tram-doors-are-safe-before-departing-from-tram-stops/urgent-safety-advice-012018-checking-that-tram-doors-are-safe-before-departing-from-tram-stops
1. Safety issue
Thin objects can remain trapped in tram doors after door interlock has been obtained and trams can then be driven away from a stop. Preventing objects and people being dragged in such circumstances depends on a visual check of the outside of the tram before it departs.
2. Safety advice
Tram operators should take urgent steps to confirm or ensure that tram drivers:
- perform a thorough check after obtaining door interlock and before moving the tram to confirm that nothing outside the tram is trapped in the doors
- do not place sole reliance on the door interlock system when deciding whether anything outside the tram is trapped in the doors
- are provided with the means to achieve the above
3. Issued to:
- UK tram operators
4. Background
At about 13:29 hrs on Friday 15 December 2017, an empty pushchair was dragged on the outside of a tram from Radford Road to Hyson Green Market tram stops after its plastic rain guard became trapped in the tram’s closed doors. Nobody was injured during the incident.