Our current approach to Health and Safety by Design is set out in our Strategic Risk Chapter. Our work continues to look at areas to encourage and promote the early consideration of design impacts on health and safety and potential solutions at the earliest opportunities, in particular at the design stages of rail projects.

We continue to work with existing duty holders and industry stakeholders to ensure that safe and healthy design solutions are assessed and adopted throughout the whole of the project lifecycle in order to proactively reduce risks as low as reasonably practicable, reflecting the general principles of prevention, as set out in Schedule 1 (The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999. This year, we have continued our monitoring of projects such as HS2, specifically through regular engagement at the project’s System Review Panel (SRP), liaison with key stakeholders, and other regulators such as HSE, the Environment Agency and Local Authorities. There has been an additional focus on changes post the government’s decision to not extend HS2 beyond Birmingham, while taking a new approach to Euston Station.

We also support third party proposers and promoters of local transport schemes such as local Councils, providing guidance on legal requirements at an early stage including promoting good practice in risk assessment in support of designs. This is supplemented by our continued work and collaboration with the DfT and Network Rail on the Better Value Rail Toolkit, intended to provide a simpler pathway to selecting and progressing the right transport solutions. 

We continue to engage in ORR’s formal “permissioning” functions, including delivery of Authorisations under the Railways (Interoperability) Regulations 2011 (as amended) and Safety Certification and Authorisation under Railways and Other Guided Transport Systems Regulations 2006 (ROGS) and certain other specific approval or authorisation duties under varied items of private legislation linked to specific transport systems. Where we have such duties, and where appropriate, we have sought evidence that health and safety by design has been addressed through the change management processes.