This year’s annual Rail Safety Summit took place on Wednesday 18th May 2011 at Holywell Park Conference Centre, Loughborough University.
Focusing on safety across the rail industry, the conference provided a forum for an in-depth insight into how experts are improving safety within rail.
Speakers representing different companies and areas of expertise were on hand throughout the day to give talks and answer questions.
Hosted by pioneering Railway Civil Engineer Colin Wheeler, the Rail Safety Summit presented and discussed the risks within the rail industry and what controls need to be implemented.
Speakers included industry leaders such as Steve Diksa, Assurance Services Director at Bridgeway Consulting, Ian Gaskin, General Manager SQE at London Underground and Paul Taylor, the new Safety Culture and Leadership Change Programme Director at Network Rail.
These top industry professionals along with others from Balfour Beatty Rail, RSSB, Alkoomi Cultural Change Consultants and the rail engineer magazine will covered a diverse range of safety topics, with the chance for an audience discussion forum.
Ian Gaskin from London Underground discussed how, as a company, LU has a ‘systematic approach to safety’ and has significantly reduced the rule book to target the end user and simplify safety.
Employees are also now able to submit ideas to a hearing if they think proceedures need to be changed or improved, meaning that ideas are coming from people who drive the trains daily and not management.
Ian also faced some tough questions regarding the on-going tube closures and the reliability of the tube network.
Steve Holmes from Balfour Beatty Rail discussed sustainability in the company’s safety plans. He stressed the need to gain a 0% harm rate as workers are often still put in harm’s way.
Paul Taylor, the new Safety Culture and Leadership Change Programme Director at Network Rail spoke about how the company considers capability vs workload and the extensive training of new workers.
Paul discussed the link between the ‘environment we operate in’ and the ‘level of  engagement’ when dealing with safety. He said safety is the company’s number one priority yet not everyone believes this and it’s an issue of trust within the industry.
The event was a huge success, with over 100 delegates attending. Exhibition stands from companies such as Unipart Rail, Quattro and Bridgeway Consulting Ltd were available for people to browse and engage with.
Delegates left the event with bags full of information and free copies of RailStaff and the rail engineer.
The Rail Safety Summit was a fantastic networking event and a great chance for people to ask vital questions on safety to some of the most important people in the industry.
The Rail Media Group would like to thank everyone that attended and made the day such a success.
