Inspector Sands

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Inspector Sands is a code phrase used by public transport authorities in London. The phrase is used in public address announcements at railway stations, theatres, sports arenas, etc, to alert authorities of a potential emergency without causing panic amongst travellers by explicitly mentioning the nature of the emergency. Contractors, for example, are expected to switch off and make safe machinery before waiting for further announcements. A typical announcement runs:

Would Inspector Sands please come to the control room immediately?

Transport for London and the British Transport Police have not publicly stated what the phrase signifies and so its interpretation has been left to interested travellers.

Most commentators agree that the automated public address announcement is generated by the station's fire warning system, indicating that a single fire alarm call point in a public area has been operated. If a fire alarm in a non-public area is operated or more than one fire alarm is operated or if a detector has gone off the system will start the evacuation procedure and the fire brigade is automatically called. The automated nature of the announcement means that it has occasionally been known to cut into manual announcements being made by station staff.

During the 7 July 2005 London bombings, the phrase was announced repeatedly on a continuous loop.

Tom Utley, writing in The Daily Telegraph in 2003, incorrectly suggested that the codeword is used to notify staff of unattended bags (which might contain a bomb). Such calls are passed directly to the British Transport Police in order for police officers trained in ascertaining whether or not a bag contains an explosive device to attend.

The use of "Mr. Sands" or "Mr. Sandman" as a coded fire warning is used in public places other than just rail stations. The use may reflect the fact that sand can be used to put out fires.

[edit] References

• When a voice calls 'Inspector Sands', terror is never far away, commentary piece by Tom Utley in the Daily Telegraph 22nd November 2003. Also available online at [1]
• Notes and Queries in The Guardian Date unknown. Also available online at [2]
• A bulletin board discussion of Inspector Sands and similar announcements
• A recording of an Inspector Sands announcement made by Nik Fox, of Fox Travel (mp3 format)
• A series of discussions about Inspector Sands from the newsgroup uk.transport.london
• [3] The British Transport Police