Rail public inquiries: Work on recommendations heads for completion

HSC press release C031:05 - 24 November 2005

The Health and Safety Commission ( HSC) today published its tenth progress report on recommendations made following Public Inquiries into the Southall and Ladbroke Grove rail incidents and Joint Inquiry into Train Protection Systems.

Bill Callaghan, HSC chair, said: "The rail industry has risen to the challenge of implementing the recommendations that are now part of the framework for the continued improvement in railway safety. Of the total of 295 recommendations arising from the four Public Inquiry reports into rail safety, only four now remain to be completed."

The report, available on the Health and Safety Executive's (HSE) website at www.hse.gov.uk/railways/railpublic4.pdf charts progress on the implementation of recommendations since HSC published its last report in September 2004. This will be the last progress report published by HSC before the transfer of rail safety regulatory responsibilities to the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR).

Bill Callaghan added: "The Office of Rail Regulation must ensure that the process of improving safety culture on the railways continues, and both the Rail Accident Investigation Branch and the Rail Safety and Standards Board - both created following recommendations by the rail Public Inquiries - will have key roles to play. In the meantime, HSC remains committed to maintaining health and safety on the railways."

As before, the recommendations have been grouped under eight themes: safety culture; infrastructure; investigations; organisations and standards; suppliers and contractors; training; train protection, and vehicle integrity, though those relating to infrastructure and safety culture were completed and reported on in previous updates.

Since the last progress report, the remaining 15 recommendations relating to investigations have been completed. The setting up of the Rail Accident Investigation Branch, a major part of this theme, took longer than Lord Cullen envisaged because of the need to find parliamentary time for the development of the necessary legislation.

The remaining two recommendations relating to organisations and standards have been completed. They are being taken forward as part of the proposed Railways and Other Guided Transport Systems (Safety) Regulations, which will implement the Railway Safety Directive.

Work to implement the last recommendation on the accreditation of safety critical suppliers continues; industry have presented draft proposals to HSE on an operational framework, the Railway Industry Supplier Approval Scheme, which forms a key element of supply chain management. The scheme is scheduled to be operational by January 2006.

The three remaining recommendations relating to training have been completed. Network Rail, as major employer of signallers on the network, intends to further develop and improve its competency management system for signallers and though HSC had decided it would not recommend a legislative approach to the licensing of train drivers and signallers, in March 2004 the EC published a draft Directive for the certification of train crews, which if adopted would be required to be implemented into UK law.

Of the remaining five recommendations under the train protection theme, a further two have been completed since the last progress report. Work is continuing on the remaining three recommendations. The National European Rail Traffic Management (ERTMS) Programme (NEP) 3 rd year progress report, published on 23 June 2005, reported good progress being made across industry in a number of areas in the development of ERTMS.

The last recommendation relating to vehicle integrity has been completed. Train operators have introduced improved arrangements for emergency evacuation, safety information and signage, training of staff, and provision of equipment. Additional standardised information for passengers will also help. A substantial programme of research and investigation is continuing. This is progressing more slowly than the Inquiries recommended, because the industry is taking a broader look at the issue than the strict terms of the recommendations demand, which appears a sensible approach for the longer term. The future development of European Technical Standards for Interoperability will influence and eventually determine standards in many of these areas.

Professor Uff and Lord Cullen, who respectively chaired the Public Inquiries into Southall and Ladbroke Grove and jointly the Inquiry into train protection systems, asked HSC to monitor implementation of the Inquiries recommendations. HSC has reported annually on progress since 2002. By 2004, 27 of the initial 295 recommendations remained to be implemented, and today's report shows the progress on those.

Notes to editors

1. The Southall Rail Accident Inquiry Report by Professor John Uff QC FR Eng was published on 24 February 2000. It contained 93 recommendations on: driver training; operating rules; fault reporting; maintenance; regulation; vehicle design; research and development; automatic train protection; accident investigation and post-accident procedures. Work on all the recommendations is now regarded as complete.
2. The Joint Inquiry into Train Protection Systems was established shortly after the Ladbroke Grove crash and during the Southall Inquiry. It was not concerned with the facts of either crash, but with broader questions relating to train protection systems. The report, by Professor Uff and Lord Cullen, was published on 29 March 2001. It contained 39 recommendations covering: implementation of TPWS; introduction of the European Train Control System (ETCS); and further action to reduce the number of SPADS through defensive driving techniques and other management initiatives. The industry reports action on 37 recommendations is now complete. Action continues on two recommendations, relating to ETCS - the automatic train protection element of the European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS). HSC has published separately its work on monitoring progress with this (see HSE website www.hse.gov.uk/railways/liveissues/tps.htm )
3. The Ladbroke Grove Rail Inquiry Part 1 Report was published on 19 June 2001. It contained 89 recommendations drawing lessons from the causes of the train crash. The recommendations cover driver management and training, signalling systems and signal sighting, crashworthiness and passenger protection, evacuation and escape. Industry reports that action on 88 recommendations is now regarded as complete. Action continues on the one remaining recommendation, relating to GSM-R as part of the ERTMS development.
4. The Ladbroke Grove Rail Inquiry Part 2 Report by Lord Cullen was published on 20 September 2001. It contained 74 recommendations, one of which required HSC to publish a report on compliance after six months, and regular reviews thereafter. The recommendations cover: use of contractors; establishing a Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) and a Rail Safety and Standards Board (RSSB); railway safety cases; HSE; safety leadership and skills; accreditation and licensing. Industry reports that action on 73 recommendations is now regarded as complete. Action continues on one remaining recommendation relating to the industry scheme on the accreditation of suppliers.
5. The first report showed that of the 295 recommendations, 179 were considered completed. The second report showed that of the remaining 116 recommendations, 37 were considered completed. The third report showed that of the remaining 79 recommendations, 52 were considered completed. Of the remaining four recommendations, action on three has continued beyond the dates suggested in the Public Inquiry reports, as well as one recommendation where no timeline was specified. The reasons for this delay include the technical complexity of introducing the European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS), which was not so advanced as the Public Inquiry was led to believe, and the amount of work that industry still has to complete in order to establish an approval scheme for the accreditation of suppliers.
6. Where HSC has accepted that adequate action has been taken to regard certain recommendations as completed, it does not mean that industry will not continue to take the issues forward, or indeed that HSE will not continue to monitor the position as part of its ongoing planned inspection work. Earlier progress reports can be found on the HSE website at www.hse.gov.uk/railways/information.htm. See also press releases C040-03 dated 5.8.03 www.hse.gov.uk/press/2003/c03040.htm and C053-02 dated 28.11.02 at www.hse.gov.uk/press/2002/c02053.htm
7. On 15 July 2004 the Secretary of State for Transport (SoS) published a White Paper The Future of Rail - White Paper CM 6233 setting out the outcomes from the Rail Review he announced in January 2004. HSC published its response to the White Paper on the same day - see press release C032-04 at www.hse.gov.uk/press/2004/c04032.htm. The SoS decided that the responsibility for rail safety regulation should be transferred from HSE to the new Office of Rail Regulation (ORR). Since primary legislation was required there is a transitional period in which the statutory responsibilities for health and safety on the railways remain with HSE. During the transitional period, and before the merger takes place (in early 2006), HSE is discussing with ORR how future progress on the rail Public Inquiry recommendations should be reported.
8. The report refers to Railtrack PLC (Railtrack) as the owner and operator of the network and infrastructure. Railtrack PLC was acquired by Network Rail Holdco Ltd and is known as Network Rail. All references in the report to what Railtrack is expected to do in the future should be construed as referring to Network Rail. It also refers to Railway Safety as the rail industry's own safety body. Railway Safety's functions are now the responsibility of the Rail Safety and Standards Board (RSSB), established on 1 April 2003. All references in this report to what Railway Safety is expected to do in the future should be construed as referring to RSSB.

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