Ali Chegini, Director of Systems and Health at RSSB and Chair of the UIC Safety Platform welcomed all of the members taking part online or in person at UIC HQ in Paris. Participants and, in particular, new members then introduced themselves.
Members then endorsed the nomination of a new Chair for the Safety Performance Group (SPG), TRENITALIA’s Luca Maria Granieri who will take over from Bart Hoogcarspel, ProRail.

The new Chair and the members thanked Hoogcarspel for his vital contribution to the Safety Platform and the SPG over the last 5 years, especially regarding the annual public UIC Safety Report. A further confidential report is available to its contributors who are part of the Safety Platform Performance Group.

The Chair gave a summary of the UIC Webinar “Safety at Work - Protecting rail workers from trains” held on 16 November 2022 (see separate article or the post on LinkedIn at http://bit.ly/3ULWglP), https://uic.org/com/enews/article/uic-safety-platform-webinar-on-safety-at-work-protecting-rail-workers-from

Then the Chairs of the different UIC Safety Platform Working Groups gave an overview of their activities and main 2022 outcomes and their work plans for 2023.

• Bart Hoogcarspel, (ProRail) Chair of the Safety Performance Group (SPG) presented the public 2022 UIC safety report.

Press release published on Monday 21 November 2022: https://uic.org/com/IMG/pdf/cp_2022_en.pdf
https://uic.org/com/IMG/pdf/cp_2022_de.pdf
https://uic.org/com/IMG/pdf/cp_2022_fr.pdf

Hoogcarspel thanked Olivier Georger, UIC, for his 10-year-contribution to SPG’s activities and, in particular, the safety database and the annual safety report.

• Maria Hedqvist (TRAFIKVERKET) Chair of the Occupational Health and Safety Group (OHSG) presented the future toolbox on new technologies to help companies to protect railway work forces. This has been the group’s most recent project and a mock-up should be ready by 2023.
• Bernard Penners (INFRABEL), Ann Mills, (RSSB) Chair and Vice-Chair of the UIC Human and Organisational Factors Working Group (HOFWG) also updated the Platform on their activities.
  In addition, Virginie Papillault, UIC, gave an online demonstration of the UIC Rail HOF digital platform launched in collaboration with the EU Agency for Railways at the last IRSC, held from 16-20 October 2022 in Sevilla. She also announced that a RailHOF LinkedIn Group for HOF specialists had been created and that they could join it here.
• Doris Horvath (CFL), Chair of the International Railway Safety Network (IRSN), invited new members to join the group and contribute to its activities. The next meeting will be held on 15 December 2022 in Luxemburg, hosted by CFL.
• Allan Spence, Chair of the Global Level Crossing Network (GLCN) shared the main outcomes from the work programme based on the four Es: Engineering, Engaging, Education, Enforcement. He focused on the UIC guidance on level crossing risk assessment methods being finalised and which will be published at the end of 2022/early 2023.
• Isabelle Fonverne gave a debrief of the ILCAD 2022 conference that launched the worldwide campaign’s 14th edition on 9 June 2022, with vulnerable people being the focus. The events were hosted by the Association of American Railroads (AAR), the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) and Operation Lifesaver Inc. (OLI). She also gave examples of the UIC level crossing safety tips published in collaboration with international road transport organisations (IRU and IRF) to raise awareness.
• Finally, Katarzyna Kucharek (PKP Group Foundation) Vice Chair of GLCN invited all participants to the next ILCAD/TRESPAD events which will be hosted by PKP and PKG Group Foundation in Warsaw, Poland.
• TRESPAD (Trespass Prevention Awareness Day): 14 June 2023
• ILCAD: 15 June 2023
• Technical visit: 16 June 2023
  Save the dates (3 photos)
• Ann Mills (RSSB), Chair of the TreSP-Network, gave information on the first ever international UIC Trespass and Suicide Prevention session launched a day before ILCAD on 8 June 2022 in Denver, USA. She also stated that the group is mainly concentrating on reviewing the Restrail toolbox measures in order to update them.
  She finished by showing a very striking and emotional video produced by Network rail to raise awareness on the dangers of electrocution https://youtu.be/pWVvjFqH0UE.
• Achim Vollmuth (DB AG) and François Binet (SNCF) Chair and Vice-Chair of the UIC/CER System Safety Management Group (SSMG) gave an update on the regular monthly meeting topics discussed with UIC/CER safety experts.
• Finally, two very interesting presentations were given:
  • The first by Bart Hoogcarspel, ProRail, on “Understanding the relation between safety barriers and accidents in the Netherlands” and
  • The second by Carsten Dam Sønderbo-Jacobsen, DSB, on “CBTC and ERTMS rollout in Denmark”.
• Frédéric Hénon, UIC Head of Operations and Safety concluded the meeting with information on the UIC Safety Unit initiatives:
  • Running an EC project called “Twinning II” on the safety culture for peer reviews within the railways
  • Creating a Safety Barriers Common Understanding Task Force, and continuing activities for building a UIC “library of safety barriers” in accordance with the UIC Safety Database
  • Task Force on “ERA Safety Climate Survey follow-up action plans”
  • Some strategic projects regarding: “reframing railway culture’s mindset regarding automation”; UIC’s wish to co-organise the International Railway Safety Council (IRSC) 2024 with a UIC member and the links between UIC and Europe’s Rail Joint Undertaking ERJU.