UN urges improved safety in Europe’s tunnels
A leading United Nations body has issued new guidelines for safety in Europe's tunnels, in the wake of the Gotthard and Mont Blanc disasters.
The Transport Division of the UN’s Economic Commission for Europe (UN-EEC) on Tuesday issued 43 recommendations in a bid to avert further disasters in the 700 or so road tunnels across Europe.
The guidelines are also aimed at homogenising safety standards and emergency procedures across Europe.
They were issued in Geneva less than two months after an accident between two trucks in Switzerland’s Gotthard tunnel sparked an inferno, claiming 11 lives and forcing the closure of Europe’s the main north-south axis through the Alps.
The tunnel is now expected to reopen on December 21, with restricted alternating one-way traffic flows for good vehicles.
The Mont Blanc tunnel linking France and Italy has been closed for more than two years since a devastating fire – also caused by an accident – killed 39 people. It is not expected to reopen before January.
Reducing risk
“The report represents a broad catalogue of measures which are for the attention of governments, international organisations and tunnel operators,” said Jose Capel Ferrer, the director of the UN-EEC transport division.
“The objective is to diminish the risk of accidents and to diminish the risk from accidents when they occur.”
The recommendations were grouped into four main categories ranging from informing drivers of what to do in an emergency to fitting heavy-goods vehicles with fire extinguishers.
The main focus area was on informing, educating and training drivers who regularly use road tunnels because an estimated 95 per cent of accidents are caused by driver error. Mistakes inside a tunnel have devastating effects and can lead to fires.
Other measures include having a trained safety officer on hand for all tunnels over one kilometre long, reducing the maximum load of hazardous and flammable substances on trucks, and rethinking the internal structure of tunnels to include more emergency exits and safety passages.
The recommendations also formed part of the agenda at a meeting between transport ministers from Germany, Austria, France, Italy and Switzerland in Zurich on November 30. Ferrer said the ministers had discussed and considered how to implement the safety recommendations in their respective countries.
However, there may well be additional recommendations in light of the Gotthard fire on October 24. The UN working group of transport experts is due to meet again in mid-January after the findings of the Swiss investigation are made public.
swissinfo with agencies
In compliance with the JTI standards
More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.