Exercise 1. Case studies illustrate the importance of maintenance procedures. Find information about one of them and report your findings to the rest of the class.

The following site may help:

http://www.hse.gov.uk/comah/sragtech/techmeasmaintena.htm

Supplementary reading

Exercise 1. Read the text about railway safety and answer the following questions.

1. Why does the Safety Directive focus on only four major aspects of railway safety in European Union Member States? What are they?

2. Is it possible for the new national rues to be in line with European Community legislation and facilitate migration towards a common approach to railway safety? How?

3. Why different national safety certificates are an obstacle to the development of the European railway system?

4. Is it necessary for each Member State to establish an independent safety authority? Why or why not?

5. What problems with serious train accidents are described in the article?

Railway safety

There are currently different national approaches to railway safety, different targets and different methods applied. Technical standards, the rolling stock and the certification of staff and railway undertakings differ from one Member State to another and have not been adapted to the needs of an integrated European rail system.

In this connection, the Directive focuses on four major aspects:

1. the setting up, in each Member State, of an authority responsible for supervising safety;

2. the mutual recognition of safety certificates delivered in the Member States;

3. the establishment of common safety indicators (CSIs) in order to assess that the system complies with the common safety targets (CSTs) and facilitate the monitoring of railway safety performance;

4. the definition of common rules for safety investigations.

The Directive applies to the railway system of the Member States and covers safety requirements for the system as a whole, including infrastructure and traffic management, and the interaction between railway undertakings and infrastructure managers.

Development and management of safety

Safety rules and standards, such as operating rules, signalling rules, requirements on staff and technical requirements applicable to rolling stock have been devised mainly nationally. Under the regulations currently in force, a variety of bodies deal with safety.

These national safety rules, which are often based on national technical standards, should gradually be replaced by rules based on common standards, established by technical specifications for interoperability (TSIs). The new national rues should be in line with Community legislation and facilitate migration towards a common approach to railway safety. The Commission has the power to suspend the implementation of a national safety rule for a maximum of six months.

In this connection, the Member States will ensure that:

• railway safety is generally maintained and continuously improved, taking into consideration the development of Community legislation;

• safety rules are laid down, applied and enforced in an open and non-discriminatory manner;

• responsibility for the safe operation of the railway system and the control of risks associated with it is borne by the infrastructure managers and railway undertakings;

• information is collected on common safety indicators through annual reports in order to assess the achievement of the CSTs and monitor the general development of railway safety.

In order to coordinate the different rules, a distinction must be drawn between two sets of actors:

• infrastructure managers, which are bodies or companies responsible, in particular for establishing, building and maintaining infrastructure or a part of it, and safety. In some Member States, however, safety may be delegated to railway undertakings.

• Railway undertakings, which are public or private undertakings engaged in the supply of goods and/or passenger transport services by rail.

Safety certification

In order to be granted access to the railway infrastructure, a railway undertaking must hold a safety certificate. This safety certificate may cover the whole railway network of a Member State or only a defined part thereof.

The fact that national safety certificates differ is an obstacle to the development of the European railway system. The ultimate objective is to arrive at the introduction of a single Community certificate. In other words, if a railway undertaking obtains a safety certificate in a Member State, that certificate should be the subject of mutual recognition in another Member State.

The safety certificate should give evidence that the railway undertaking has established its safety management system and is able to comply with the requirements defined in the TSIs, with Community law and with the national safety rules. For international transport services it should be enough to approve the safety management system in one Member State and give the approval Community validity. Adherence to national laws on the other hands should be subject to additional certification in each Member State.

The safety certificate must be renewed upon application by the railway undertaking at intervals not exceeding five years. It must be wholly or partly updated whenever the type or extent of the operation is substantially altered.

A railway undertaking applying for authorisation to place rolling stock in service in another Member State will submit a technical file concerning the rolling stock or type of rolling stock to the relevant safety authority, indicating its intended use on the network.

In addition to the safety requirements laid down in the certificate, licensed railway undertakings must comply with national requirements, compatible with Community law and applied in a non-discriminatory manner, relating to health, safety and social conditions, including legal provisions relating to driving time, and the rights of workers and consumers.

An essential aspect of safety is the training and certification of staff, particularly of train drivers. The training covers operating rules, the signalling system, the knowledge of routes and emergency procedures.

Maintenance of vehicles

Before it is placed in service or used on the network, each vehicle is assigned a maintenance entity (which may be, in particular, a railway undertaking or an infrastructure manager). The entity ensures the working order of vehicles by introducing a system of maintenance in accordance with the vehicle’s maintenance book and the applicable safety requirements.

National safety authority

Each Member State must establish a safety authority which is independent from railway undertakings, infrastructure managers, applicants for certificates and procurement entities. It will respond promptly to requests and applications, communicate its requests for information without delay and adopt all its decisions within four months after all requested information has been provided.

The safety authority will carry out all inspections and investigations that are needed for the accomplishment of its tasks and be granted access to all relevant documents and to premises, installations and equipment of infrastructure managers and railway undertakings.

Each year the safety authority will publish a report concerning its activities in the preceding year and send it to the agency by 30 September at the latest.

Accident and incident investigations

Serious train accidents, such as derailments and collisions with fatal consequences, occur rarely, but when they do they attract public interest and the interest of safety professionals all over Europe.

Criteria governing the independence of the investigating body are strictly defined so that this body has no link with the various actors of the sector. This body decides whether or not an investigation of such an accident or incident should be undertaken, and determines the extent of investigations and the procedure to be followed. The investigations should be carried out with as much openness as possible, so that all parties can be heard and can share the results. The relevant infrastructure manager and railway undertakings, the safety authority, victims and their relatives, owners of damaged property, manufacturers, the emergency services involved and representatives of staff and users should be regularly informed of the investigation and its progress.

Each investigation of an accident or incident will be the subject of reports in a form appropriate to the type and seriousness of the accident or incident and the importance of the investigation findings.

Each Member State must ensure that investigations of accidents and incidents are conducted by a permanent body, which comprises at least one investigator able to perform the function of investigator–in–charge in the event of an accident or incident.

http://europa.eu/legislation_summaries/transport/rail_transport/l24201a_en.htm

Key words

accident
crucial factor
to eliminate the risk
ergonomics
explosion
failure
fatality
fault
flammable substance
harm
hazard
human factor
incompetence
injury
loss
maintenance procedure
mitigate
normative publication
protective equipment
safety
safety measures
technical review
toxic substance
workplace

Checklist

Assess your progress in this unit. Say which statements are true.

1. I can use past tenses when I describe an accident.

2. I can use Imperative when I write safety recommendations.

3. My listening and reading are good enough to understand most of each text in this unit.

4. I can use key words to discuss safety requirements in maintenance documentation with my colleagues.