Goal Setting Principles for Railway Safety
IOSH response to theOffice of Rail and Road Consultation
Submission
31/8/16
Introduction
The Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH), the Chartered body for health and safety professionals, registered charity and international NGO, welcomes this opportunity to comment on these important principles and would welcome the opportunity to meet the Office for Road and Rail to explore these issues further.
The content for our submission has been provided by members from the IOSH Railway Group committee. This Group is made up of over 1500 professionals with a common interest of rail as a specialist area. The Group offers a range of networking and professional development opportunities.
In brief, the aims of the IOSH Railway Group include:
- supporting UK and international members in developing and sharing professional competences relating to rail industry matters
- providing technical support to IOSH
- working closely with IOSH Branches, Groups and Forums, industry regulators, representative bodies and relevant professional bodies
Specifically, its activities include:
- holding and supporting networking and industry events
- reviewing and commenting on key issues
- promoting best practices
Detailed comments
- Is the structure of principles about right?
The IOSH Railway Group committee have examined the draft and consider it, overall, a good document.
2. Does the document contain relevant principles and are any missing?
IOSH offers the following comments and suggestions on selected principles.
- Principle 1 – suggest this should read “The railway shall ensure the elimination, or reduction and control, of health and safety risks in infrastructure, railway vehicles, products or processes by considering and addressing early at the design stage any potential risks from their construction, manufacture of equipment so that it is safe and healthy to use on the railway, installation, commissioning, operation, maintenance, de-commissioning and dismantling or demolition.
- Principle 1 - 1.2 (e) – we suggest there should be mention of silica dust and asbestos hazards. Also, how the equipment/plant will be accessed once in service should be addressed. The challenges here may include long walks along the trackside, or situations in the public domain.
- Principle 2.2 – should read “People carrying out duties on the operational railway…”
- Principle 2.2 - 2.2(b) – this talks about the passing of trains which seems to suggest normal service. We suggest this should include comment about engineering possessions or temporary or emergency speed reductions.
- Principle 2.3 – we suggest this could usefully include ‘the provision of a clear contact number should an emergency affect a structure’.
- Principle 2.4 – we suggest this could usefully include maintenance managed/maintained/published access points and egress points for plant.
- Principle 2.5 – we suggest this could usefully include reference to maintenance plant clearance and access ability and marking of covered services (tamping etc.).
- Principle 3.2 – we suggest this could usefully include consideration of surface slope angle to avoid wheelchair/pushchair rolling onto track.
- Principle 3.3 – we suggest this could usefully include emergency access arrangements or isolation arrangements, especially for recovery of items on the track.
- Is the terminology used in the document up to date and meaningful?
No comments
4. Do the principles signpost specific legislation, standards and guidance in a helpful way that does not make the document unwieldy or out of date very quickly when standards change?
No comments
- Is the format of the document suitable for other principles for railway safety documents that may be published for specific areas (electrification is given as an example)?
No comments
6. Any other comments.
About IOSH
Founded in 1945, the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) is the largest body for health and safety professionals in the world, with around 46,000 members in over 120 countries, including over 13,000 Chartered Safety and Health Practitioners. Incorporated by Royal Charter, IOSH is a registered charity, and an ILO international NGO and CIS collaborating centre. The IOSH vision is:
“A world of work which is safe, healthy and sustainable”
The Institution steers the profession, providing impartial, authoritative, free guidance. Regularly consulted by Government and other bodies, IOSH is the founding member to UK, European and International professional body networks. IOSH has an active research and development fund and programme, helping develop the evidence-base for health and safety policy and practice. Summary and full reports are freely accessible from our website. IOSH publishes an international peer-reviewed journal of academic papers twice a year titled Policy and practice in health and safety. We have also developed a unique UK resource providing free access to a health and safety research database, as well other free on-line tools and guides, including resources for business start-ups; an occupational health toolkit; and a risk management tool for small firms.
IOSH has 38 Branches worldwide, including the Caribbean, Hong Kong, Isle of Man, Oman, Qatar, the Republic of Ireland, Singapore and UAE, 16 special interest groups covering aviation and aerospace; communications and media; construction; consultancy; education; environment; fire risk management; food and drink; hazardous industries; healthcare; offshore; public services; railways; retail and distribution; rural industries; and sports grounds and events. IOSH members work at both strategic and operational levels across all employment sectors. IOSH accredited trainers deliver health and safety awareness training to all levels of the workforce from shop floor to managers and directors, through a professional training network of more than 2,000 organisations. We issue around 160,000 certificatesper year.
For more about IOSH, our members and our work please visit our website at
Please direct enquiries about this response to:
Judith McNulty-Green, Policy Adviser
The Grange, Highfield Drive
Wigston
Leicestershire
LE18 1NN
Tel: 0116 257 3100
Email: