Safety concern regarding lack of whistle board
The reporter advises that the whistle board for [Location] has been missing for over two months. The board is required to alert drivers that they need to activate the whistle at that point, to comply with level crossing safety standards. The reporter states the concern has been reported many times to management; however, the board is yet to be replaced.
The initial report was made in April 2022 by a driver who reported the missing board to network control and this information was subsequently passed on to Operator's] infrastructures structures section. It is not clear that this information was provided through the Fault Centre system.
A driver subsequently verbally reported the issue to [Location] manager on 15th May 2022. The manager reported the missing whistle board via the fault centre on 16th May 2022 at which time it was given a fault number and issued an appropriate priority level to be fixed.
A replacement whistle board was installed by the infrastructure structures team overnight on 23rd May 2022.
Further work is continuing to ensure that personnel are aware that the correct means of reporting such faults is via the fault reporting centre, at which point a fault number and appropriate action priority will be provided for follow up.
Communications will be provided to personnel to ensure they are aware that safety issues should be reported through the appropriate channels so that hazard identification, risk analysis and action follow up can be completed
The ATSB did not seek comment from the regulator.