Management in action

HAVING read Del Brenner's excellent piece I thought it worth while providing an illustration of what he refers to as 'British Waterways Management', in action, writes Ralph Freeman.

Following the unfortunate accident at Stourport it was deemed that lock tail bridges were unsafe. The result has been that most on the Staffs & Worcs and many on the Trent & Mersey canals have been fitted with hand rails. I've just locked down the Botterham Staircase on the Staffs & Worcs and found an example of such a handrail.

Mk II Version

The photo shows the Mk II version of the design with a fabricated arch/beam across the tail of the lock which looks in keeping and does the job whilst not seriously compromising headroom for boaters, so I've no complaints regarding the installation. It is the context that worries me.

From a boaters point of view, I would have preferred anti-slip material to have be fitted to the tail bridge itself rather than the fitting of a handrail. Is this not a safety requirement of lock tail bridges I wonder? It has been my experience that smooth metal surfaces do not offer a good foothold in anything other than bone dry conditions.

Unprotected drops

Now if we 'zoom out' view wise and look at the tail of the Botterham Bottom Lock what do we see? For a start here are drops in the region of 10ft at the lock tail onto a hard surface on either side of the lock (with no protection). Then there is a flight of steps approximately 8ft high with no handrail, and finally a substantial drop from the towpath again onto a hard surface with no fence.

Not a problem?

Now three 'British Waterways' managers, I would suggest, are responsible for this situation; the local regional manager, the head of health and safety and not forgetting, of course, the operations director. None of these, apparently see anything amiss with the situation as shown in the photograph attached.

Your decision

I'll leave it up to you, dear reader, to decide whether the fitting of a hand rail to the lock tail bridge is a significant improvement to safety at this lock or whether 'health & safety' has been applied in a manner some might consider as bordering on the ridiculous?