COMMENT
‘Ten workers’ lives saved by the railway’s use of proactive safety measures’
Keith Morey of the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health’s Railway Group describes recent safety advances but argues that more can be done.
W
ith positive behavioural culture and a fully informed society, the above
is the type of headline we should see in our media: unfortunately good news does not sell newspapers as well as bad news.
It is hard to believe that some of the original roles on the railway can be traced back to 1825 and are still present 190 years later.
We still have track patrollers walking routes to visually ensure that everything looks okay;
A lookout stands watch for a gang of railway workers at the north end of Watford Junction railway station.
and then de-regulation.
The railway today is made up of just as many companies as it was 100 years ago. There is however a better understanding of accidents, incidents and their causation and investigation. This has helped make the modern railway so much safer.
Progress – but not enough
Within the last fi ve years the railways have also witnessed the introduction of the close call system (known as CCS) and its promotion by Network Rail; the move from method statements of 70+ pages to minimal task briefs; and work activities along with better PPE throughout the industry has helped to bring around a culture change.
© mattbuck (Creative Commons)
lookouts (originally fl agmen) to provide protection for gangs working on the line; and train drivers who need to know the route and stop at the correct place in the station.
Things have changed with technology, electric and diesel have replaced steam trains, old signal boxes have been replaced by modern power boxes and there is now much more modern plain line track along with switches and crossings.
Those working on the railway have also evolved from single operating companies through to the Big Four from 1923, before nationalisation
26 | rail technology magazine Jun/Jul 14 26 | rail technology magazine Jun/Jul 14
Newer organisations such as the Confi dential Incident Reporting and Analysis System, CIRAS as it is known, help to promote a reporting system for all who work on the railway. In turn, by promoting the reporting of concerns in confi dence to CIRAS, the organisation can then put pressure on companies independently to help infl uence an outcome and improvements, thus improving safety across the rail industry.
But is all this enough? Is there someone out there with a fantastic system of railway safety that we are all missing?
For the last 10 years the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) Railway Group has worked hard to try to get companies together to discuss railway safety and try to bring into the light the hidden nuggets
of railway improvements. As committed railway and safety professionals we believe that by getting companies to be open about how they manage their safety – whether it be trackside, depot or on a project – then we can share information with other railway members and discuss and debate areas of good practice as well as areas that could be improved.
In order to have these discussions there has to be maturity. It is easy to criticise what someone does, but it takes a more professional attitude to suggest ways to stop things happening, as well as put things right. The IOSH Railway Group has, to date, held sessions on depot and station construction safety, working depot safety, as well as train crew and station security.
There have also been specialist sessions with the RSSB (Railway Safety and Standards Board) on guidance for contractors. The ORR (Offi ce of Rail Regulation) launched its ‘Railway Management’ maturity model, RM3, and then worked with the IOSH Railway Group to promote this through meetings and events. Additionally we have held events covering occupational health, working with the HSE Laboratories. These have included diesel fumes, ballast dust, asbestos and fatigue. The major link throughout the events is employee health and safety and improvements to their wellbeing.
Areas of specifi c concern
In recent years this has been linked to the Railway Group annual award. This award is presented for occupational health and safety issues. These are themed for each year and are
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