Case study: wheelchair ramp safety
14 March 2024
New contract for wheelchair ramp servicing.
There is a delay in servicing the wheelchair ramps used at Exeter St Davids railway station. The reporter to CIRAS believed this was because of changes in the supply chain. They also felt that a delay in finding another supplier to service them could make the issue worse.
The reporter said the delay in servicing could mean faulty ramps are used and customers could be injured. In the last service, some ramps were found to be faulty and taken out of use.
Great Western Railway (GWR) said a technician from the supplier attended the station to inspect the ramps and deemed them safe to use. Its Accessibility and Assurance team introduced a new planned preventative maintenance programme to keep the ramps at a good standard, reducing issues caused by wear and tear.
A new contract with the supplier includes full inspection and replacement of usable parts. It also covers in-depth testing, which wasn’t included before. GWR said the supplier will now inspect ramps every six months and will detail the maintenance each ramp has had in a ramp asset directory, along with their next inspection dates. GWR reminded staff to continue inspecting ramps visually before use and take any faulty ramps out of use.
Faults should be reported through internal channels or to a line manager. Ramps will also still be checked during scheduled planned general inspection.