After the accident. MAIN FEATURE I Accidents. 8 Global Magazine ı

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1 MAIN FEATURE I Accidents After the accident The Volvo Group s safety programmes do not end when products leave the plant. Several of the Group s companies have their own accident research teams and they travel to the scene of real-life accidents. You can learn things from real life that you can never predict, says Anna Wrige Berling at the Volvo Trucks Accident Research Team (ART). The truck is lying on its side on the verge of the road and, when the large cranes arrive and slowly turn it into its correct position, it becomes clear that the crash barrier has torn a large hole along the whole of the container and cab. Through this hole, it is possible to see that the truck was carrying timber and that one of the sharp posts in the crash barrier has penetrated the windscreen on the right-hand side of the cab. The driver survived because he was wearing his safety belt. He was left hanging in it and was able to climb out unscathed, says Stig Boman at product development at Volvo 3P. The truck, a Volvo FM (a 2000 model) rolled over while taking a corner at low speed in Gothenburg and Stig has arrived to find out how the accident occurred and what has happened to the truck. Stig is a member of the Volvo Trucks ART, Accident Research Team, which conducts indepth studies of accidents in which Volvo trucks are involved in order to see whether anything can be learned from real-life accidents that can then be applied to improve safety programmes and product development. Volvo Trucks set up its accident research team, now known quite simply as the ART, in Sweden, back in 1969, at which time it was a pioneering move. This team is still fairly unique in that we routinely look for accidents that interest us with a view to improving product safety, says Anna Wrige Berling, head of the ART. Her team consists of five people from Volvo 3P and Volvo Trucks, who specialise in cabs, complete vehicles, advanced engineering and technical service. The ART s work has resulted in a large database containing the types of accident in which Volvo trucks have been involved. In all, the team has investigated more than 1,600 accidents and, as a result of its work, it has access to such an extensive database that it is able to focus on in-depth analyses of the accidents its investigates. Continues on next spread 8 Global Magazine ı

2 By: Karin Wik Photography: Accident Research Team Global Magazine ı

3 Accidents Thank goodness accidents are so rare and this is due primarily to proactive work Lars-Olof Winterfeldt, chief engineer for Volvo Aero s products It is, for example, really interesting to find out whether a new model functions as it does in our tests. We often find that a truck functions as it is supposed to, but every accident is still unique in its own way. This helps us to find new crash situations from which we can learn and identify improvements for future Volvo trucks, explains Anna Wrige Berling. That s why we always try to interview the driver about his or her experience. This is extremely import - ant for us. She goes on to explain that many drivers still do not use a safety belt and that finding ways of persuading drivers to do so is a challenge. It s partly a question of comfort. Many drivers frequently have to jump in and out of their cabs and many of them also think that the safety belt doesn t fit well and chafes when the truck bumps up and down. THE CURRENT DRIVER S SEAT with belt in seat in other words, the shoulder strap is fitted to the backrest instead of the cab has improved the comfort, but Anna Wrige Berling says that work still needs to be done to increase the use of the safety belt. In the accident in Gothenburg that Stig Boman has travelled to investigate, the driver is shaken but unhurt, thanks to his safety belt and the rigid cab. Stig interviews the driver and studies the scene of the accident in detail. Roll-overs are relatively common and, even if a more detailed examination is needed to be completely sure, he has a pretty good idea of the cause. As it s laden with sawn timber, the centre of gravity was probably high. Containers like this one are usually sealed, so the driver doesn t know how they are loaded. This can be a disadvantage. The ART s investigations are based on collaboration with the police, the recovery service, customers and drivers. It travels to between 20 and 25 accidents a year, the majority in Sweden, but it also visits other European countries. The team also investigates accidents involving trucks and cars, primarily to see how the under-run protection system works. All the information is collated and analysed by the ART and other experts within the Volvo Group and they sometimes take things even further and repeat parts of the accident sequence to make comparisons with mathematical models. VOLVO BUSES ALSO INVESTIGATES real-life accidents, but its ART works in a slightly different way from the one at Volvo Trucks. It focuses primarily on investigating whether the Volvo product has contributed to the accident and whether Volvo needs to take any kind of action. It also aims to help customers who are Stig Boman, Volvo 3P, is a member of the Accident Research Team. interested in the cause in order to prevent an accident being repeated. Every year, some 20 fires are investigated, together with a small number of other serious accidents. Fortunately, serious accidents involving buses are rare, says Frede Overby, accident research manager at Volvo Buses and the person who travels to investigate accidents. Frede subscribes to press cuttings and receives reports on bus accidents from all over the world. When he learns that a Volvo bus has been involved, he makes phone calls to find out what has happened. He is sometimes contacted by customers who have encountered problems with their buses and want to know why. If Frede finds something he thinks needs to be investigated, he takes further action. As there are Volvo buses in most countries, he travels all over the world if necessary. It s a bit like being a detective, especially if there has been a fierce fire and all that is left is scrap metal. You find small traces and you have to build from that, explains Frede. Interviewing the driver is an important part of the work. Was he or she able to brake? Did any error messages appear on the display? It is also important to check the repair history. Magnus Bergström and rules governing safety This is an incredibly exciting job and you are driven the whole time by the positive aspect of preventing similar accidents happening again, says Frede. A FEW YEARS AGO, the Volvo Buses ART was able to help solve the problem of a number of engine bay fires in Volvo buses where an engine jet pipe had broken and sprayed diesel oil over hot parts of the engine. It transpired that the problems occurred when one of the total of six jet pipes needed to be replaced during maintenance. These jet pipes sit in two groups of three and, to make room for a new pipe, the mechanic was forced to bend it, thereby weakening the material. As a result of this discovery, Volvo Parts, Volvo Buses parts supplier, stopped selling single jet pipes and started selling them in packs of three, with the result that a new, more straightforward working method was introduced. If a single pipe needs replacing, all three are now replaced without needing to bend one. A huge amount of work takes place behind the scenes, in addition to the actual accidents, says Frede. We are involved in continuous product development, where our work focuses primarily on eliminating the risk of fire, adds Frede Overby. In some countries, like Sweden, all bus accidents involving fatalities are investigated by a government 10 Global Magazine ı

4 The truck has rolled over at low speed while cornering and has landed on the crash barrier. Cicci Jonson Accident Research Team Lars-Olof Winterfeldt at Volvo Aero describe the rigorous programmes in the aircraft industry. Photo Jukka Lamminluoto agency and Frede then helps to produce the information the government inquiry needs. WHEN IT COMES TO VOLVO AERO, which produces components for aircraft engines, work on quality and safety is governed by rigorous regulations, legislation and standards that apply to the whole of the international aircraft industry. Thank goodness accidents are so rare and this is due primarily to proactive work, says Lars-Olof Winterfeldt, chief engineer for Volvo Aero s products, together with Magnus Bergström. If an air accident happens anywhere in the world, it is always investigated by a government accident commission. A commission of this kind contacts the engine manufacturer who then contacts Volvo Aero if there is a suspicion that any of Volvo Aero s products are involved We are then on our toes and ready with all the information about our components, says Lars-Olof, who can actually only remember one occasion, 15 years ago, when a component from Volvo Aero was involved in an accident. During the accident inquiry, Volvo Aero produced all the information about the engine component including the machines it had passed through, where the raw material came from Anna Wrige Berling and Stig Boman enter facts relating to accidents in a database. In-depth analyses then use these data to improve safety. This is an incredibly exciting job and you are driven the whole time by the positive aspect of preventing similar accidents happening again Frede Overby, accident research manager at Volvo Buses Global Magazine ı

5 Accidents This team is still fairly unique in that we routinely look for accidents that interest us with a view to improving product safety AnnaLisa Foto Anna Wrige Berling, head of the ART, Accident Research Team and how maintenance had been performed on the customer s premises within two hours. The accident commission found that everything had been done in accordance with all the available knowledge and current standards, but it still led eventually to changes being made to both the production of that particular component and the global standard that governed the production method, explains Magnus Bergström. REAL-LIFE ACCIDENTS ARE, however, the exception in Volvo Aero s safety work. The greatest effort is instead devoted to what are known as incidents, devi - ations that do not turn into accidents. Within the aircraft industry, there are what are known as initiative requirements, which means that everyone that handles the products, from assembly workers to calculation engineers, is responsible for issuing an alert if he or she suspects that something is not as it should be. Together with the quality systems, this leads, in virtually every case, to a defect being rectified before components leave production. This is completely normal and is part of our quality and safety programme. In rare cases, however, we can suspect a problem in a product that has already reached the customer and this generates large-scale activity, says Lars-Olof Winterfeldt. He describes what happened when it was discovered that a delivered component did not have exactly the desired characteristics. We suspected that a component that was in the air might be unsafe. As a result, we initiated a major investigation at Volvo Aero and at the customer, but we eventually found that the product was fine. We didn t need to change our hardware, but we updated the user instructions. The user instruction books for Volvo Aero s components are as thick as encyclopaedias and they are a Kenneth Kihlquist, Volvo Trucks, Ulf Torgilsman, Volvo 3P, Anna Wrige Berling, Volvo 3P, Dennis Mattsson, Volvo Trucks, Stig Boman, Volvo 3P part of the product that is just as important as the hardware. These manuals guarantee the airworthiness of a product once development and production are completed and we must be active and inform users if they are changed, says Magnus Bergström. The existence of the entire industry is dependent on the general public being able to rely on aircraft. WORK AT THE VOLVO TRUCKS ART began in 1969 as a Swedish pioneering project in vehicle safety. The current Accident Research Team has spread not only throughout the Group but also all over the world. In July this year, the ART entered into a partnership with the China Automotive Technology and Research Centre, CATARC, the Chinese authorities organisation that is responsible for research and certification relating to the country s traffic safety programmes. The work resembles the work that is done in Sweden and Europe, but the objective is not to investigate individual accidents but to learn about traffic safety in China on a wider level. We don t know how things are organised in China, so we need to learn and obtain basic documentation for future decisions and priorities, explains Claes Avedal at product planning at Volvo 3P. We need to learn more about the special traffic environment in China. It contains everything from the traffic systems of the future to outdated infrastructure and the things that apply this year will have changed completely next year. Within the framework of the project, the CATARC will be conducting in-depth studies of several hundred accidents in a number of Chinese cities over a threeyear period. Volvo and a number of other vehicle manufacturers will then have the chance to study the information relating to these accidents. This partnership is aiming for broad-based, fundamental traffic safety. Nothing of this kind has previously existed in China and so it is a truly pioneering project. Just like the work the ART began in Sweden in the 1960s, says Claes Avedal. MORE INFORMATION ON THE WAY THE GROUP WORKS ON REAL-LIFE ACCIDENTS Renault Trucks During a period of 20 years (until the financial crisis), Renault Trucks conducted detailed analyses of truck accidents. A team of specialists travelled to the scenes of accidents to investigate and analyse. This work resulted in an extensive database containing statistics from more than 1,000 accidents. This database is owned by Renault Trucks and is available to the whole of the Volvo Group for its work on product and traffic safety. Since 2008, Renault Trucks has been focusing primarily on accidents that involve vulnerable road users, such a cyclists and pedestrians in urban environments, in which distribution vehicles are involved. Mack Mack supports customers and the authorities such as the National Transportation Safety Board when they investigate accidents in which Mack vehicles have been involved. Experts both internally at Mack and externally gather and analyse facts and then take action. Volvo Penta In special circumstances in connection with an accident, Volvo Penta sometimes sends a team to take a closer look. This is not done systematically, however. 12 Global Magazine ı