Railway Inspectorate knowledge

The Railway Inspectorate Regulatory Objectives and the Social Dimensions of Knowledge... 

A number of more specific questions were asked to ascertain in more detail the extent of respondents knowledge of the Railway Inspectorate s use of the legal options available to them. There were very uncertain replies in response to questions about who is prosecuted, although the few who did feel able to answer... 

The social dimensions of knowledge and understanding were striking. Senior railway personnel had the most contact with the Railway Inspectorate but this is partly an artefact of organization. Inspecting officers and senior railway officials were both in charge of policy decisions, decisions about capital expenditure, and a much wider remit than occupational health and safety, and moreover they were few in number. Railway employment inspectors, whose remit solely centred on occupational health and safety, were only fifteen in number and had to cover the entire rail network. It is therefore not surprising that they were not... 

One of the important aspects of being a safety representative is to be especially knowledgeable about health and safety matters. This involves receiving additional health and safety training and also being a recipient of information from, for example, the Railway Inspectorate following their inspections. 

The inspectors had various sources of information. These included their investigation of accidents their knowledge of the individual railway companies and occasionally they sponsored independent research into particular technical problems. 

Chart 5.2. Knowledge of local railway employment inspectors... 

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. ... 

Safety representatives knew more about the Inspectorate in terms of its name and the name, appearance and location of railway employment inspectors, than the rest of the workforce, but less than managers and about the same as supervisors. This suggests that their training and position did allow them to acquire a greater than average amount of knowledge compared to their colleagues in 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... 

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