REGULATORS are investigating whether a possible safety breach contributed to a 13-year-old boy suffering a severe electric shock at an Ayrshire railway line.
Kieron Jenkinson, of Ardrossan, suffered serious burns and was placed in an induced coma after a length of wire he was dangling from a bridge at the town's railway station on September 23 came into contact with live overhead power lines carrying 25,000 volts.
The incident is being probed by investigators from the Office for Rail Regulation (ORR) in conjunction with British Transport Police to determine whether Network Rail had failed to meet health and safety standards at the site. Network Rail is the body responsible for maintaining the UK's rail infrastructure, including tracks, signalling equipment and power lines.
A spokesman for the ORR said the investigation was ongoing.
The case is one of three possible breaches flagged up in the regulator's latest report on Network Rail's performance between April and October this year.
The ORR said operational safety of overhead line equipment in Scotland had been good, but raised concerns that safety protocols needed to minimise the risk of electrocutions had not been followed on a number of occasions.
The report stated: "There have been a number of irregularities in the setting up or removal of electrical isolations to protect staff against electrical danger from OLE (overhead line equipment) when working on or near it.
"As a result the ORR is investigating two incidents where contractors failed to correctly follow isolation processes."
The regulator also criticised a deterioration in workforce health and safety after the rate of deaths and injuries among staff doubled year-on-year. Incidents included a worker being killed in a road traffic collision and another being seriously injured in a quad bike accident. Ten injuries resulting from serious workplace accidents were reported by Network Rail in the last six months.
The ORR said there was no single driver behind the increase, but blamed "ingrained poor practice yet to be removed by safety culture improvement".
Thomas Docherty, Labour MP for Dunfermline and West Fife, said he was seeking urgent talks with Network Rail about safety.
"This should be a wake-up call to rail bosses who have clearly been complacent for too long," said Mr Docherty.
However, the report praised safety improvements to level crossings, which have brought the risk of death and injury in Scotland to a record low as a result of upgrades and closures. There were no accidental deaths or injuries on level crossings in Scotland between April and October this year.
A spokesman for Network Rail said: "Safety, for both passengers and staff, is the primary focus of Network Rail. Today's railway is one of the safest forms of travel, and the safest railway in Europe, and we have extensive systems in place for monitoring safety.
"We are working with our contractors and the ORR to review the incidents noted in the monitor report and have already put in place changes as a result of our own internal investigations," he went on to say.
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