RSSB
Thinking about the system also helps us to link the safety world more definitively with the business- end of running a railway
improving the overall safety across the whole system. Reporting through NIR and CIRAS can generate this kind of assurance, and requires us to embrace whole-system thinking. We may not have a documented SMS for the whole rail system (nor do we really need one), but we do collectively apply some aspects of system-level assurance which benefits everyone. These include things like the Annual Safety Performance Report and the Safety Risk Model.
Linking to the business-end Thinking about the system also helps us to link the safety world more definitively with the business-end of running a railway. Safety assurance is not simply a safety driver, it’s also something which boosts the effectiveness and efficiency of the business, with the potential to bring down costs and generate more output or revenue.
RSSB has sent copies of the guidance to CEO’s at Network Rail, train and freight operating companies and infrastructure contractors, to cascade to relevant directors and heads-of- departments.
level, at company-to-company level, and then more holistically at the level of the railway system as a whole. Acquiring assurance at company level, for example, where an activity is contained completely within an organisation in terms of its scope and impact, is something which most people should be very familiar with. Assurance at the interface is perhaps trickier, but not uncommon either, requiring dialogue between parties with the right level of monitoring and information exchange. An example could be a major re-build at
a station, where there are many parties involved and an impact on passenger flows in and around the station – think Kings Cross, Leeds or Reading. The risks to passengers will only be clear once everyone shares information and input through dialogue.
Safety assurance at the system-level, although not led by a single directing mind and less formally applied, does provide feedback loops to the whole rail system. If we are sure that something is considered ‘safe enough’ in one location, then this knowledge could be used in
It contains many examples of good practice, checklists, tools and templates and hyperlinks to other useful sources. One such tool is the Shared Risk Register which should prove useful in achieving a step-change in the management of interface risks and could also be a practical aid in the development of Joint Safety Improvement Plans. The key question perhaps to ask is whether the right information is getting to the right decision makers at the right time, and do the right relationships exist internally and externally to make this happen?
For more information about Safety Assurance Guidance, produced by RSSB, contact
enquirydesk@rssb.co.uk Ian Moreton is programme manager, Safety Management Systems at RSSB.
• February 2014 Page 61
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