The Railway Industry and Risk

A variety of sources of information about railway accidents in Britain is available. The statistics below are derived from two sources, namely Railway Inspectorate and HSE annual reports and BR data. The HSE data are probably the most accessible and simply presented data. This chapter provides a basic and summary picture of the official data. Its intention is to highlight the main 

Other inland transport Repair of consumer goods 

Chemical industry Mechanical engineering Food, drink, and tobacco Wholesale distribution Public administration 

B Metal manufacturing B Water supply industary B Postal services and telecommunications B Construction H Production and 

---

Now these comments may amaze, they may even surprise. They certainly would if the organisations were identified. When one realises that in some cases the people were talking about systems which, on failure, could put life at risk they suddenly become more shocking. Computer-based systems are increasingly used in applications which have become known as safety critical - a phrase well known in the Railway Industry, and sometimes also known as safety-related. ... 

There are a number of recognized principles for managing risks and achieve target values for tolerable risks of accidents with injuries or casualties within the railway industry. Typically, different countries have recognized different principles. Thus, MEM is mainly practiced in Germany, ALARP in the UK, and GAMAB/GAME in France. The principles are shortly described below. 

Generally information about accidents was not retained, even by those at the top of the organization who specialized in health and safety. Not remembering or knowing specific numbers was not in itself important, but the fact that staff did not know the broad numerical range of fatalities and major injuries may indicate that the risks were neither known nor fully appreciated. So let us turn our attention now to how direct questions about risk were understood. How risky was the railway industry considered to be and what did staff consider to be the particular dangers to their health and safety ... 

The data imply that the railway industry was generally perceived as a risky workplace, albeit not unequivocally so. In response to the question Is the railway a risky industry to work in , directors and departmental safety officers definitely regarded the industry as risky. Indeed two safety officers wished that they could convey this to the staff with greater clarity. The need for this is revealed by the responses from the rest of the sample. While a majority (55 per cent) did regard the railways as risky and were prepared to use strong language to emphasize how risky they considered it to be, a minority (14 per cent) were prepared to reply that the industry was not at all risky and the rest (31 per cent) either claimed that the risks varied or qualified their responses. In the case of these qualified responses, the need to adhere to the rules or to train staff was heavily emphasized ... 

Despite these very real problems with the new risk management techniques, their symbolism is not wasted on either the industry or the regulator. They both understand that it is one way of publicly demonstrating that they are addressing risk (Clarke, 1999 Hood and Jones, 1996 86), and this is felt hy both to be especially important given that the railway industry is much more in the public view than many other industries and this may well affect public perceptions of risk. But at the same time that more systematic approaches to... 

The railway industry is overburdened with paperwork, such that it is to be doubted that many individuals can have a proper grasp of all the documents for which they bear nominal responsibility. The stock answer to any problem which is identified is to produce yet more paperwork in the form of risk assessments. Group Standards and the like. .. the... 

Unease with the risk management techniques used by the railway industry were apparent in the Southall and Ladbroke Grove inquiries. The Southall Inquiry is blunt in its criticism risk assessment procedures have been shown to produce variable results, which are seldom rigorous and sometimes questionable. No primary or secondary paper-based system is a substitute for common sense and commitment to the job (Uff 2000 208). The evidence given by the Director of HSE to the Ladbroke Grove Inquiry concentrates more specifically on problems in the methods and perspectives used ... 

I entered this research project with experience of the railway industry. My previous research with the Railway Inspectorate (Hutter, 1997) meant that I was very familiar with the industry and its working environment. I knew the structure of the industry, the occupational health and safety risks associated with the work, and how these were regulated. Of particular importance was that in my previous research I had employed ethnographic techniques and so had been out and about on the track, visited depots, and so on. this was important in gaining credibihty, as was my association with the Railway Inspectorate. 

Risk information and risk profiles relating to the NRCI, the Railway Group and the wider railway industry. 

The railway industry s interpretation of reasonable practicability as applied to investment decisions, described above, has been used across the industry for some years. However, it is not without its critics - some suggest, for example, that the railway industry s interpretation of the ALARP principle places too much emphasis on CBA and the quantitative comparison of risks versus costs. Moreover, recent developments have raised serious issues about the tenability of this approach. 

The scope of this research includes engineering safety analysis and management that is applicable to any industry, but with the trial implementation being specific to the railway industry. The methodology aims to support the systems safety analysis and the identification of major contributors to safety risks and benefits, whilst safety and business decision-making is supported through the evaluation of different... 

---