INVESTIGATION OF THE WALKWAY COLLAPSE AT RAMSGATE HARBOUR, UK, ON 14 SEPTEMBER 1994

摘要

On 14 September 1994 a passenger walkway at Ramsgate Harbour, UK, became detached from its fixing point and fell 10 metres resulting in fatal injuries to six persons. The investigation carried out at the Health and Safety Laboratory concluded that the failure of the support feet had resulted from fatigue cracking of a poorly executed, safety critical weld. An assessment of the design calculations concluded that they had been inadequate and that incorrect parameters had been used. A comparison of stresses in the stub axles using both HSL's and the manufacturer's assumptions is given. A fatigue assessment of the design concluded that the failure of the welds was both predictable and inevitable. As a result of these findings, and other investigations, successful legal proceedings were taken against four companies.