Taking Safe Decisions in the GB Railway Industry

Abstract

The railway industry in Great Britain has accepted processes for taking decisions that impact upon safety which have been in place for a number of years. This paper provides an overview explanation of the processes. The UK railway industry now has some practical experience around the use of its agreed safety related decision making processes. This paper includes a review of some of the practical problems and difficulties that can be experienced in applying the processes. The industry’s experiences have clarified that safety appraisals are more complex in nature than was perhaps appreciated when the guidelines were drafted by RSSB and the ORR. It has also highlighted the importance of intelligent interpretation of the results of the CBA. This information is being used to feed into an ongoing review and update of the guidance to support its wider use in the indust