Use of equipment

An assembly of linked parts and devices, of which at least one is movable, is referred to as a machine. The term also includes control devices and safety components. In the accident prevention regulations, machines are referred to under the name of power-driven work equipment.

Only with the permission of the rail operator,  vehicles, machinery and equipment may be set up and moved in the places specified. If vehicle or machine operators do not have the required line authorisation they need to be accompanied by a pilot (a person who has knowledge of the route and signalling). People may only enter or leave vehicles and machines from the side on which there is no danger. In general, this is the trackfree side or the side where the track has some form of protection. In railways with a third rail to supply power, this is the side where there is no third rail. In marshalling yards with distances between the centrelines of tracks of more than 4.5 m, vehicles and machines can leave the area at any point. If vehicles or machines do not move at more than 3 mph (5 km/h), safety measures for other staff working on the track do not need to be provided.

If vehicles, machines and devices, are stationary they must be secured to prevent inadvertent movement. Moving parts or extensions which protrude beyond the profile should be locked in the rest position (to keep everything within the loading gauge).

Care must be taken to lock the units before any repair work is done.
Care must be taken to lock the units before any repair work is done.
© Plasser & Theurer
The side of the operating track must be considered when leaving the vehicle
The side of the operating track must be considered when leaving the vehicle
© © 2017 EYECATCHME. Photography

Material and equipment storage

Materials and equipment must be stored in such a way that they are not set in motion either by the wind or by railway vehicles. Cable drums need to be secured against rolling away and falling over. Bundles and rolls of cable must be secured, so that they cannot get into the path of trains or be caught and dragged along by passing rail vehicles.

A continuously available security area may be interrupted after a maximum length of 10 m, if the maximum speed of rail vehicles is not more than 60 km/h. It must not exceed 6 m if the permissible speed exceeds 60 km/h. The ratio of the length of the space used for storage purposes to the remaining length of the space for persons to stand should be the same. At speeds up to 60 km/h, it must not be smaller than 1:5, and in the case of higher permissible speeds not smaller than 1:3. In any case, safety spaces between storage areas and installations shall have a length of at least 1.3 m.

Safe storage of material outside the hazardous area
Safe storage of material outside the hazardous area
© Fabian Hansmann