Request ID: FOI-2696-2223 Date published: 20 February 2023
You asked
Can you please provide:
1. A tabular summary of the number of fatalities that occurred on London underground (tube) from calendar year 2012 to 2022? Please also break down the annual number of fatalities by the causes of death (suicide, trespass, accidental, crime-related, medical, etc.) and by the tube lines (Bakerloo, Central, Circle, District, Hammersmith & City, Jubilee, etc.).
2. A tabular summary of the number of London tube employees, including train operators, who took leave following the fatalities on London tube from calendar year 2012 to 2022? Please also break down the annual number of employees who took leave by the tube stations (Baker Street, Euston, Farringdon, King's Cross St. Pancras, etc.).
3. Transport for London's (TfL) safety procedure and/or measures to prevent deadly incidents from occurring on London tube as well as support provided by TfL for staff affected by deadly incidents and for family or friends of victims of the incidents.
We answered
Our Ref: FOI-2696-2223
Thank you for your request received on 26 January 2023 asking for information about fatalities on the London Underground.
Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act and our information access policy. I can confirm we hold some of the information you require.
We offer suicide prevention training, which is available to all members of staff, via a training course that is delivered by external specialists. The course is tailored for our operational staff members, focusing on spotting signs of potential suicidal activity, and then how to safely engage with the individual and techniques to take them to a place of safety.
Unfortunately, to provide the information you have requested would exceed the ‘appropriate limit’ of £450 set by the FOI (Appropriate Limit and Fees) Regulations 2004.
Under section 12 of the FOI Act, we are not obliged to comply with a request if we estimate that the cost of determining whether we hold the information, locating and retrieving it and extracting it from other information would exceed the appropriate limit. This is calculated at £25 per hour for every hour spent on the activities described.
We have estimated that it would cost over £450 to provide a response to your current request. This is because it is estimated that it would take in excess of 18 working hours to retrieve and compile the information you have requested.
Your request spans a total of ten years. In order to provide the information you have requested in Question 2 of your request we would need to cross reference the data we hold over this entire period for staff who took leave across the entire network with the information we hold on when fatalities occurred on the London Underground. You have also requested data on leave that has been taken over the entire year across the entire network.
To help bring the cost of responding to your request within the £450 limit, you may wish to consider narrowing its scope so that we can more easily locate, retrieve and extract the information you are seeking. For example, by narrowing the timeframe considerably. It is also not clear if you are requesting information on staff who have taken leave because of a fatality on the network, e.g. because they were the train operator involved, or whether you want data on all staff who took leave across the network following a fatality – regardless of reason.
If you want to refine your request or make a FOI Act request in future, please bear in mind that the FOI Act allows you to request recorded information held by us. You should identify the information that you want as clearly and concisely as you can, specifying the types of document that you are looking for. Although your request can take the form of a question, rather than a request for specific documents, we do not have to answer your question if it would require the creation of new information or the provision of a judgement, explanation, advice or opinion that was not already recorded at the time of your request.
Before you consider submitting a revised request, please note that in accordance with the FOI Act, any request regarding suicide data is likely to be refused under section 38 - Health & Safety, particularly sections 38(1)(a) and 38(1)(b) which focus on endangerment to physical or mental health and the safety of any individual.
One of TfL’s utmost priorities is ensuring the safety of the general public when traveling on our network. Whilst we make no suggestion that you would use this information for anything other than you own personal interest, disclosure of this information to you has to be regarded as a disclosure to ‘the public at large’ and so we must consider the possible impact from disclosure of any information we may hold regarding the information you have requested. Please note that we will not be taking further action until we receive your revised request.
In the meantime, if you have any queries or would like to discuss your request, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Yours sincerely
Gemma Jacob Senior FOI Case Officer FOI Case Management Team General Counsel Transport for London
