The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) has led an industry-wide project, collaborating with Network Rail, train and freight operating companies, the Rail Safety and Standards Board (RSSB), and others.
The project found good examples of how ‘reasonable practicability’ is being tested for health and safety interventions. ORR’s review also found that there was scope for greater consistency across the industry in how costs and benefits are taken into consideration.
There is also scope for improving engagement and collaboration in several areas, including in the design of rail vehicles, which would have the benefit of avoiding expensive corrective action later. ORR also wants to ensure its close collaboration with Network Rail continues on significant health and safety issues.
The industry has already begun taking forward ORR’s recommendations, with Network Rail working to improve its internal processes. RSSB is leading on new training, and as part of this initiative, ORR and RSSB have jointly identified where duplicative guidance can be withdrawn to make things simpler and clearer for industry.
Richard Hines, HM Chief Inspector of Railways, said:
Will Godfrey, Director, Economics, Finance and Markets, said:
Notes to Editors
- The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) is the independent economic and safety regulator for Britain’s railways, and has regulatory powers to hold National Highways to account.
- Report: Assessing the costs and benefits of health and safety interventions in rail: An industry-wide review
ORR’s recommendations are:
- Industry should enhance its understanding of how to test reasonable practicability.
- Network Rail should continue to develop and implement its approach and guidance for determining reasonable practicability, including a tool for cost-benefit analysis in line with RSSB’s industry guidance. Network Rail, RSSB and ORR should ensure that the approaches to testing reasonable practicability for industry and Network Rail are aligned as far as possible
- ORR and DfT should work together to improve DfT’s awareness of priorities for health and safety. We will engage with DfT and other rail funders on how we can share perspectives and provide advice to enhance their assessment of health and safety interventions.
- When new trains are being considered, the party acting as the lead on procurement should ensure engagement, where possible, with the future operator to ensure that health and safety issues relating to the planned use of the train are considered and understood by all parties before the design is finalised. ORR also has a role to promote the principles of health and safety by design and clarify the limitations of the interoperability process in relation to operational safety.
- The Government’s rail reform programme should consider how health and safety by design can be improved when new trains are being procured. This will realise a benefit of integrating track and train under rail reform
- Network Rail should develop a more robust process for capturing significant health and safety compliance issues and escalating these within the organisation
- Network Rail should consider ways to improve how regional and national approaches to address emerging risks are managed, which will allow for effective decision making at corporate level
- For major health and safety interventions, Network Rail should improve its monitoring of cost and project outcomes to ensure that costs are controlled and test that intended benefits are realised. This should include re-evaluating reasonable practicability when there are significant changes in costs and/or the means to realise health and safety benefits.
- Network Rail should improve its governance, and documentation of decisions on major health and safety initiatives to improve transparency and to support Recommendation 8
- Network Rail and ORR should explore opportunities to further strengthen existing engagement on significant health and safety issues.