BBC report

[ebee]

Hmm, this one just caught my eye on the BBC.
"a man suffered non life-threatening electrocution injuries."
As we all know "Electrocution" means death, despite what some dictionary may say.
Electrocution is a contraction of two words Electrical-Execution.
Looks to me that thankfully this chap just got an electric shock, sadly the policeman trying to save him was very badly injured, lets hope he makes a recovery.

Nottinghamshire Police officer hit by train while helping man

The officer is in a critical condition in hospital after trying to save a man on the railway lines.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[EFLImpudence]

Yes, I saw that. The BBC has dumbed down terribly recently; English no longer matters.

Presumably if he had been actually electrocuted he would have "met up with his death" on the "train tracks".

Let's hope the "train tracks open back up again" soon.

 

[JohnW2]

As we all know "Electrocution" means death, despite what some dictionary may say.

Indeed - but one has to decide what is meant by "means", particularly if dictionary definitions vary.

"Continuity testing" 'means' a qualitative (or, at least, 'binary') test, but is now being widely used to refer to the accurate quantitative measurement of low resistances.

It is, indeed, Friday!

Kind Regards, John

 

[ericmark]

I have questioned before the idea of a third rail out of tunnels, in a tunnel no problem, no one should be able to reach it, but fences on most railway lines will not stop animals going on the line, I include humans as animals. However the pictures don't seem to show a third rail, so big question is how did anyone get an electric shock?

I have been trained on how to work on railway lines, but unless working on the line, we are unlikely to be carrying red or yellow flags to place on the line. With the trains I work with they have a max speed of 16 MPH, but they still take time to stop, we only have one automatic barrier, I know there are lights to tell engine driver he can proceed, but not sure how they are activated, one would hope if something stops the barrier coming down it would auto stop the train, but an emergency stop would seem a better idea.

Not seen a phone at the automatic barrier, but even if there was, it is not permitted for the driver to have a radio, so only the guard could be contacted, he can apply the brakes, but the driver would need to realise the guard was trying to stop the train. At 16 MPH with an engine which is not very big, I am sure he would realise, but as to standard gauge trains I don't know.

It is not something I have asked about, all the other crossing the fireman gets off the train and holds a red flag to stop traffic, which is fair enough with a max speed of 16 MPH.

I think reporting the incident is good, it may save a repeat, but there is nothing in the report to say how it happened, so there is little point, it needs to not only say how it happened but also say what should be done to avoid accidents like that, otherwise it is rather pointless.

 

[JohnW2]

I have questioned before the idea of a third rail out of tunnels, in a tunnel no problem, no one should be able to reach it, but fences on most railway lines will not stop animals going on the line, I include humans as animals. However the pictures don't seem to show a third rail, so big question is how did anyone get an electric shock? ..... I think reporting the incident is good, it may save a repeat, but there is nothing in the report to say how it happened, so there is little point....

There is certainly a paucity of official information, but that may be due to issues of 'sensitivity'/confidentiality etc.

If you look on-line, you will see that many of the media (newspaper and other) reports of this incident describe the person who received the electric shock as being "a very distressed man" to whom the police were called 'to assist'. A least a couple of the reports end by giving information on how to contact The Samaritans and similar organisations/sources of assistance/support.

The media's perception (correct or not) therefore seems to be that the man's injuries (electric shock) may have in some way been deliberately self-inflicted. It's therefore possible that his injuries were nothing directly to do with the railway, and his presence on the track may posssibly have been a 'belt and braces' attempt at serious self-harm.

One can but speculate.

Kind Regards, John