Nine years of change at RSSB
An interview with outgoing RSSB board member Geoff Spencer.
Geoff Spencer, Non-Executive Director (Freight and other non-passenger train operators), RSSB
You’ve been a member of the RSSB board since 2014. How has RSSB changed in that time?
We’re in a better place now than when I started, that’s for sure. The industry has matured a lot in the last nine years from a safety perspective, and we’ve had better technology coming into play. We’ve also realised that our collection and use of data wasn’t as good as it probably should have been and there are better ways of using it to inform industry of risk mitigation. The way the board operates has changed too. As an industry representative on the board you wear two hats, one a non-executive director (NED) and one as a member. When I joined the board, members tended to act more with their industry hat on than their NED hat. This made board meetings sometimes feel like a review of RSSB’s performance rather than working together to challenge and support Mark and the executive on how we could best achieve RSSB’s objectives and deliver value for money.
At every board meeting it’s almost mind-blowing that pretty much every aspect of industry has been done by somebody sat around the table. There aren’t many companies in rail that could boast that, or in other industries to be honest. RSSB should be very proud of having such an experienced board to help it develop and change.
What were the driving forces behind these changes in the board?
When I started there was a perception by some members that, because rail companies have to pay a levy to RSSB, it didn’t matter what its members wanted or how much they valued RSSB’s outputs. However, the board started talking about how we’d turn RSSB into a business that people would want to pay for, even if they didn’t have to. That’s a difficult change to make, and it’s really positive that RSSB recognised the need for this approach.
When I started, I spoke to the other CEOs and MDs in the freight sector (which I represented, initially as the ‘non-passenger member’, see below), and asked what sort of feedback they wanted from RSSB board meetings. One of them said: ‘What does RSSB do?’. Even now, I remember speaking with Claire Mann after her induction to the board, and her surprise at the full range of what RSSB does. So, while we’re making strides in the right direction, we’ve still got further to go.
So RSSB needs to communicate better with its members about what it actually does. Are there other areas where RSSB can improve?
We’re very good at developing the business cases for action at higher risk levels within the industry, but, speaking from a freight perspective, we could use more help in developing business cases for the wider risk reduction work.
Employing engagement managers to develop relationships with members and key stakeholders, so we understand their needs better, has been excellent. I’d like to see this developed further in RSSB, working to understand what the issues within member organisations are. We want to try and find the problems that people didn’t even know they had, and how we can solve them. That is truly value adding and how the commercial world works.
During your time on the board, RSSB started offering commercial activities, outside of the levy. What was the industry’s response?
Initially, there was concern within the board that RSSB would turn its focus only on the commercial projects, and lessen focus on delivering the core member benefits covered by the levy. Certainly, some member organisations were concerned they’d be charged more for what RSSB should have been doing anyway. Now, the industry recognises that if the work will benefit the whole sector, it’s covered by the levy, and if somebody wants some specific work, they need to pay for that themselves. Even some freight operating companies (FOCs), who have a particularly strong focus on expenditure, are now commissioning RSSB for specific projects for their individual benefit. It shows they trust RSSB, they value the added benefit of its work, and of course any monies generated support the wider industry work RSSB undertakes and add value to member services.
Has the way RSSB understands collaboration changed during your time on the board?
Collaboration really became a byword following the launch of the Leading Health and Safety Strategy in Britain’s Railway (LHSBR) strategy in 2013. Prior to that we only had a legal duty of cooperation. It was thought by the freight sector at the time that collaboration could be difficult. How do you do this with businesses with which you are closely competing every day? The FOCs did rise to the challenge, develop a freight charter signed by the leaders of each organisation and create collaborative working groups, with the stated aim that what was being done was to jointly protect and enhance the reputation of rail freight. The call to arms for this approach was the recognition that people remember serious train accidents but not generally the company whose service was involved. Having RSSB as the independent organisation providing frameworks, resources, and support for this is a critical enabler of this collaboration and creating a safer railway.
Collaboration has also allowed us, through the sharing of data, a better understanding of our risks. The Data Insights work is a huge step forward in using the data to better help us reduce risk on the network.
Why are Data Insights a huge step forward?
We measure lots of things, but the Data Insights capability enables us to see the wood for the trees. RSSB specialists can turn data into something meaningful: It allows us to take better decisions around our understanding of risk and therefore more informed decisions in how we can address it. I’d have been blowing in the wind if I’d asked for that nine years ago!
The more our industry colleagues can see how useful the Data Insights are, the more they will want. A challenge for RSSB in the future will be how it creates capacity for this demand. It is absolutely a value-adding tool and careful thought needs to be taken in how we meet these demands and fund them.
The rail industry faces a lot of uncertainty and change. How can RSSB help?
Uncertainty and change bring risk, and that means that RSSB needs to support the industry in understanding and managing its risk profile when going through any structural change. When others are concentrating on the changes RSSB needs to help us maintain that focus.
What change would you like to see at RSSB?
In the freight sector, if a potential customer needs support moving some traffic, they don’t want to know you can do it in six months’ time. Some people will wait, but some will just go elsewhere. The passenger sector must also meet demands for time-critical responses. So reaction speed, making decisions, making changes, and helping people, is critical. I think RSSB needs to move faster with understanding member queries, and how it operates in response to them Developing a culture of urgency has to be the next part of the ‘adding value’ process.
What is rail’s biggest underappreciated strength?
It’s the collective workforce. Effort, pride, and professionalism goes into making sure that rail services are delivered despite the many sources of change and uncertainty we confront together, daily.
Your membership of the RSSB board ends in March 2024. What’s your final piece of advice?
Use the F-word more… ‘freight’! When I started, I was the ‘non-passenger member’. It took several years before I became the ‘freight and non-passenger member’. I know RSSB is for the whole railway, but it would be wrong for me not to take every opportunity to champion rail freight and help people understand the benefits to us all of rail freight growth.
Want to know more? Find out about our work in the area of Freight Safety.
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