Stonehaven...one year on.

It would be valuable for us all to take a moment to reflect on the tragic circumstances that resulted in the Stonehaven derailment one year ago today. This event occurred when a passenger train hit a landslip and of the nine people aboard, three were fatally injured.

On the evening before this horrible event there had been storms which sparked an amber severe weather warning from the Met Office. This caused flooding in the area which raised the nearby water levels on the River Carron by over 5 foot (1.54 metres).

Derailment had previously occurred in the immediate area in 1915, with the same stretch of track closed in 2002 due to a landslide and a Network Rail report (2014) stated the crash site was in a "list of sites…greatly affected by earthslips”. Horribly easy to say with hindsight.

The alarm was raised on the 12th August by a person using the what3words app to tell a 999 operator the exact location. The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service then sent 12 engines, three coastguard vehicles were dispatched, along with multiple police and ambulances resources.

Personally, I could see a plume of smoke rising above a nearby hill and hear helicopters and sirens from my home office. I immediately enacted our emergency response protocols and, with the help of the wider organisation, we completed a head count for all local personnel.

The point of this story is to emphasize the importance of emergency response arrangements. I hope this example ably demonstrates that letting your employer know where you are when you are on business is not a form of micromanagement, it is a necessity to keep you safe.

Emergency management and crisis response has been an integral part of my career. I would always welcome a conversation from any person or organisation (formally or informally) on the topic and, if myself or Vysus Group can add value, then all the better.