Spotlight on Safety
Winter 2023 safety highlights
The GB rail network is one of the world’s best in terms of safety. This is a record to be proud of, particularly since safety performance occurs in response to a constantly changing environment. Maintaining and improving safety performance in a dynamic environment is a challenge.
To help improve rail’s safety performance further, our Spotlight on Safety video series highlights those safety issues that are most pressing at the time of publication so that rail leaders know where to target their company’s efforts. For instance, Spotlight on Safety 3 focused on the implications of changing passenger demand on service types and how to prepare for hazards from climate change.
However, the most recent—Spotlight on Safety 4, published in December 2023—highlights two vital areas where improvements in safety appear to have slowed: SPADs and work-related violence (WRV). This was done to focus on ways to get safety improvements moving again.
It is excellent that, for several years, industry has been collaborating in the use of new technologies, and the sharing of data, to improve our understanding of SPAD risk. That collaboration has included the introduction of the Train Protection Warning System, the withdrawal of Mark 1 rolling stock, and the development of the Risk Management Maturity Model (RM3), to name a few.
However, we can still improve collaboration in some areas. For instance, the SPAD Good Practice Guide was updated with guidance and templates for the completion of two types of SPAD alert notice in summer 2023. Getting these resources in front of the people who need them will drive the collection of even better quality data.
Want to know more?Learn about increasing the quality of data from SPADs:
SPAD Investigation Report Template
SPAD Notices, Templates, and Guidance
Some key factors underlying WRV are beyond industry’s control, such as the cost-of-living crisis and the effects of extreme heat due to climate change. Other important factors, such as train delays or alcohol consumption by passengers, are issues that industry is already working to reduce.
This may make it seem as though nothing further can be done to reduce WRV, but in reality, the vital first step here is collaboration. We are working with the Work-Related Violence Group (WRVG) to achieve key milestones that will help us collaborate on this problem far more effectively.
An essential first milestone is having an agreed, shared definition of what WRV is, as this will then inform the types of data that are collected and uploaded about each WRV incident. This definition has now been agreed by WRVG. Next, a common set of metrics for WRV are essential in enabling the most effective use of data on this issue throughout industry, so it’s really important to understand the WVRG’s definition and to use its guidance when developing plans to reduce WRV risk.
These core issues are covered in both the WRV summary for rail leaders and the more detailed guidance for those responsible for producing action plans.
Want to know more?Read our two-page briefing document about WRV written specifically for rail leaders.
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