The RSSB – What do they do?

Listen to this article

In an occasional series, RailStaff looks at people and organisations within the rail industry.

RSSB stands for the Rail Safety and Standards Board, but what does it do? Nigel Wordsworth met chief executive Len Porter and his deputy Anson Jack to find out.

Strategic undertakings usually have an industry-wide system and process safety organisation. The oil, gas and nuclear industries all have them, and railways are no different. British Rail had a Safety and Standards Directorate, and following privatisation Railtrack adopted a Safety and Standards Directorate independent of line activities.

However, as Anson Jack explained, having the infrastructure operator running the industry-wide safety organisation caused quite a few tensions. These came to a head in the aftermath of the Ladbroke Grove incident. John Prescott, deputy prime minister at the time, announced he was stripping Railtrack of its safety role.

Lord Cullen, in the report of the second part of the public inquiry into the Ladbroke Grove accident, recommended that a new independent safety body be established “to provide safety leadership for the industry and to set and review industry Standards”. The result of this was the creation of the Railway Safety organisation as a temporary measure.

Role and objectives

After more review and consultation, the Rail Safety and Standards Board was established in April 2003. RSSB provides support and facilitation for a wide range of activities usually achieved through cross-industry working groups and committees.

It is a not-for-profit company owned by major industry stakeholders, including train operators, Network Rail, and major infrastructure contractors. The company is limited by guarantee and is governed by its members and a board. It is independent of any single railway company and of their commercial interests.

The company has a range of competencies, tools, models and capabilities that support the industry in different ways. It employs around 230 people, covering several technical disciplines including operations, engineering, human factors, risk assessment, economic evaluation, sustainable development, information technology and communications. It also includes the support functions of finance, administration and HR.

The company’s main roles were originally defined by the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR), to:

• Manage Railway Group Standards on behalf of the industry;

• Lead the development of long-term safety strategy for the industry, including the publication of annual Railway Strategic Safety Plans;

• Facilitate change by leading a research programme and providing education, awareness materials and events;

• Support cross-industry groups working on national programmes addressing major areas of safety concern; and

• Facilitate the effective representation of the UK rail industry in the development of European legislation and standards that impact on the rail system.

The industry has changed rapidly from the time of the original statement. The RSSB is now undertaking many economically driven activities such as research and the work of the System Interface Committees.

Six spheres

Len Porter explained RSSB’s role in the industry underpinning knowledge-based decision making.

Initial data comes from incident reports and research activity, and is compiled in a Safety Management Information System (SMIS). Various publications concentrate on this information and make it available in a more accessible form such as reports.

This information is used for analysis of potential situations. For example, SMIS data is used in the Safety Risk Model (SRM) and Precursor Indicator Model (PIM), and research results and operational experience are used to populate the Vehicle Track Interaction Strategic Model (VTISM).

These models provide knowledge which helps the industry develop its understanding of key risks on the railway system. With this understanding, industry decisions are taken by recognised bodies such as standards committees.

RSSB provides governance for these industry bodies and owns the outputs (such as standards) on behalf of the industry. Implementation of these decisions brings change to the industry, either through the planning process or through introducing revised standards.

Following these changes to the system, new data is generated and the whole system of analysis and decision making goes around again.

Maintaining standards

The Railway Group Standards, which are controlled and produced by RSSB, only apply to the main heavy-rail network. They do not apply to tram networks, London Underground, or HS1.

However, says Len Porter, ‘We have a very cordial relationship with London Underground as they are members of CIRAS (the Confidential Incident Reporting and Analysis System for the rail industry). HS1 is also not in our remit, but we do collect data from there and collate it.’

RSSB manages the Railway Group Standards process on behalf of the industry, but they do not enforce them. That is the role of the regulator, the Office of Rail Regulation.

Anson Jack expanded on the concept of safety being allied to efficiency. ‘What we do is all about understanding risk, quantifying risk,’ he said. ‘It helps make sure that people don’t spend money unnecessarily.’

As an example, he described an action taken by the Noise Abatement Society to control the sound of train horns. It had the potential to cost the industry £20 million, but research carried out by RSSB for the industry, and analysis of the problem, showed that alternative action could be taken without the need to spend such sums.

There was also a campaign to force operators to fit trains with seat belts. RSSB proved that trains were actually safer without them, provided that carriages were fitted with laminated glass rather than toughened to contain passengers within the train in the event of an accident. All new trains now have laminated glass.

As Len Porter commented, the role of the RSSB is to help the industry understand what could be a very large, very complex situation. ‘People equate following standards with safety. In fact, they are often more about efficiency measures rather than a safety system. Having a good safety management system is, after all, part of running an efficient organisation and a safe railway.’

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Latest Rail News

ORR review leads to 50% reduction in maximum fees for ticket refunds

New rules will mean that from 2 April the maximum fee that train operators and ticket retailers can charge...

More like this...