Railway Inspectorate activities

The Railway Inspectorate s oi anization at this time reveals a strong division between what it termed its traditional activities and its newly acquired health and safety duties." Railway employment inspectors who were primarily responsible for health and safety matters were numerically dominant within the Railway Inspectorate but inspecting officers, who in the main dealt with the more traditional activities, were more senior. The inspection of new works was exclusively the remit of inspecting officers accident investigation was undertaken by all members of the Railway Inspectorate. Public inquiries were undertaken by inspecting officers whereas the less public investigations were undertaken by railway employment inspectors. 

Routine inspections comprised the major part of the work of railway employment inspectors. The Railway Inspectorate did not operate a formal inspection programme rather railway employment inspectors were given the discretion to decide how frequently and when to visit each area in their jurisdiction. They took account of such considerations as the accident rate associated with a particular area or activity and the degree of confidence they applied to the management and workforce. In essence this was a risk-based approach, albeit an informal one which had not been systematized by the Inspectorate. Central guidance was given on particular problems that inspectors should be... 

Another indicator that Railway Inspectorate visits were valued are the responses to the question How frequently do you think they (yomr premises/area/activities) should be inspected . This time all categories of staff were asked the question but very few members of the workforce felt able to respond. The large majority wanted visits annually or more frequently, this being especially the view of safety representatives and the workforce. ... 

At this level there was little contact with railway employment inspectors. Health and safety officers were in regular communication with inspectorate staff locally, especially the civil engineering and mechanical and electrical engineering safety officers. Only one departmental safety officer was in regular contact with inspecting officers. There was little knowledge at these senior levels about railway employment inspectors activities and requests unless a problem arose. So there was no central monitoring of railway employment inspectorate activities by... 

The sheer volume of new companies in the industry caused further problems. The 1995196 Annual Report reported that there were more companies active in the operation of the railway than at any stage since the early 1920s (HSE, 1996, p. vii). It continued change, particularly rapid change, carries its own risk (ibid.). This was particularly so as privatization led to an influx of newcomers to the industry, many of whom were unfamiliar with the railways environment. This led to a variety of consequential difficulties. For instance Railtrack and the Railway Inspectorate both encountered difficulties in recruiting suitably qualified personnel. And clearly the need for such personnel has been acute, partly to handle the volume of work created by the privatization but also to cope with the additional work caused by those companies and personnel unfamiliar with the railway environment. The HSE Inquiry docu-... 

The infrastructure controller s safety case is required to show how safety cases from train and station operators will be assessed, and how their performance will be monitored. The HSE, represented by HM Railway Inspectorate, takes an overall role in monitoring the operation of all safety cases. This includes monitoring and auditing the infrastructure controller s activities in accepting and monitoring other safety cases. 

The Inspectorate s routine enforcement activity typically involved the use of a wide array of informal non-legal enforcement techniques. These enforcement activities were generally long term and incremental in nature. Much of their work was educational and advisory. Railway employment inspectors were important disseminators of information within BR. They passed on information about how other sectors of the railway managed technical problems and identified sources of specialist help within the company. Where necessary they would advise on how to meet safety standards, while national or potentially difficult problems would be referred upwards for consideration by inspecting officers and senior managers within the railways. Likewise, they would when necessary explain the requirements and the reasons for them to managers and employees. 

In order to probe respondents knowledge of the Inspectorate and its enforcement of health and safety legislation in greater detail, interviewees were questioned about the latest visit to their area by a railway employment inspector. They were asked when an inspector had last visited their area if they had been visited in the previous twelve months and how frequently their premises were inspected. Awareness of visits was again positively related to the respondents place in the hierarchy, although the large majority of those interviewed did not know how frequently their premises/area/activities were inspected. This was the case with all grades of staff. ... 

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