RSSB has published its Learning from Operational Experience Annual Report 2010.
The rail industry’s primary safety objective is to avoid harm to people and property. However, there is always some residual risk associated with the transportation of people and goods.
The industry seeks to reduce the frequency of events that can cause harm; but for those that do occur, it seeks to minimise the impact on passengers, staff and the public.
One of the main contributors to the improvement of safety is the learning that flows from operational experience and this report looks at some of the ways this is achieved, be it via accident investigation reports and recommendations, statistical trend analysis or cross-industry group initiatives.
It also fulfils the recommendations tracking function of previous RSSB documents. Some of the key themes are:
- Retaining a corporate memory in a changing environment
- Effective Safety Management Systems at interfaces
- Developing a positive safety cultureThe use of mobile phones in the workplace
- Platform-train interface and how to minimise the associated hazards
- Level crossings – mitigating the risk at the road-rail interface by working together
- Winterisation – considering the effects of extreme weather on the industry’s everyday operations.
Speaking about the report Anson Jack, Director of Policy, Research and Risk said, “Statistics show that the rail industry’s safety performance has steadily improved over time. This report considers learning points from near miss events as well as accidents.
“RSSB works on the ‘plan, do, review’ principle, taking our expertise of data capture and analysis, and processing the resultant knowledge via the many industry bodies that we facilitate, in order to effect positive change.”
