The Safety Management System Programme

ROGS certificate and authorisation submissions workshops

A series of workshops were held during June to explore and agree a way forward on the style and level of detail for ROGS certificate and authorisation submissions to ORR.
 
The workshops were arranged after a review of a sample of certificate and authorisation submissions and discussions with dutyholders and it was apparent that there was an inconsistent approach in style and content of these submissions. Dutyholders who had not yet submitted applications had also suggested that it would be helpful for the industry to develop co-ordinated guidance in respect of the mainline railway. The workshops were primarily aimed at dutyholders who were yet to submit their applications to the ORR and included a presentation from a dutyholder whose Parts A & B certificate applications and their authorisation application had been accepted by the ORR. The main objective of the workshops was to bring together dutyholders and the Regulator to determine:

· The preferred style and layout of certificate and authorisation submissions

· The depth of information required

· The appetite for the production of a template/framework and supporting guidance by RSSB

The output from the workshops has been evaluated and the general consensus on structure and level of detail of the submission documents is that they should in the main, be confined to supplying ORR with the necessary information to gain acceptance of a certificate or authorisation under ROGS. For more information, please refer to the report which can be found here.

ROGS One-Year-On Conference - A shared learning experience

Managers and trade union representatives from across the rail industry gathered in London to share practical experience of the new ROGS safety regulations, twelve months after their implementation. The conference was held at the Wellcome Centre on 8 November 2007 and was jointly organised by the Rail Safety and Standards Board (RSSB) and the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR).

The interactive event provided rail company managers, workforce representatives and personnel from the ORR with the opportunity to hear structured presentations on lessons learnt to date, plans for future development, support tools and guidance and to participate in discussions with topic experts. Delegates were also able to learn more about new developments in the field of health and safety in the supporting exhibition.

The event was also the platform for RSSB to launch 'A guide to ROGs requirements for duty of co-operation between transport operators Parts 1&2’ and ORR ‘A Guide to ROGS’, which have been recently developed to support the rail industry’s implementation of obligations.

John Abbott, Director of National Programmes at RSSB, explains: “The implementation of the ROGS regulations in 2006 represented the biggest change in heath and safety regulations for the railway system since the Railway Safety Case regulations in 1993.”

“The conference provided the opportunity for the entire rail industry to share its collective knowledge and experience after twelve months’ operation of the new regime, as well as learn more about new tools and guidance which have been developed to facilitate further improvements in safety performance going forward.”

“What was clear from the conference is that the regulator has worked very closely with the industry to smoothly implement the new regulations, and the rail companies are grasping the opportunity provided by the new regime to both modernise their approach to safety management and work together much more closely to plan and deliver practical safety improvements.”

Delegates at the RSSB-sponsored conference heard from Network Rail, EWS, Southern and Grant Rail on their experience of ROGS. Further insight into the new regime was also provided by the ORR, RMT, ASLEF and the European Rail Agency (ERA). In addition to the informative presentations, delegates also participated in specialist breakout workshops on key aspects of ROGS; Safety Verification and Interoperability, Safety Critical Work, Annual Safety Reporting and Duty of Cooperation and System Safety.

A brief insight was also given by the ERA into developments within the European Union which will have a significant impact on the development of safety management systems in Britain.

Presentations from the conference can be found below.

Please click on a title to download the presentation