The UIC Safety Platform Steering Group meeting took place on 22 May in Paris under the leadership of the chairman Jean-Michel Richard (SNCF).
During the “informal session” (first part of the meeting) the participants were informed about significant developments in the field of railway safety, accidents and incidents.
The chairman of the common UIC “System Safety Management Group” (SSMG)/CER Safety Support Group, Jean-Francois Meunier (SNCF), presented the latest activities of this Working Group, especially the development in the field of “Risk acceptance criteria” (RAC-TS), the way to a “Single Safety Certificate” and the proposal to extend the mandatory “Certification of the Entity in Charge of Maintenance” (CECM) to all types of vehicles. These topics were also discussed with the representatives of the “International Liaison Group of Governmental Railway Inspectorates” (ILGGRI) during the last common meeting in March.
The activities of the “Occupational Health and Safety Group” (OHSG) were presented by its former chairman Colin Clifton (Southeastern Railway/UK). The proposed new leader of this WG, Benoit Joly (Infrabel), was confirmed; Colin Clifton will henceforth assume the role of Vice-Chairman.
The participants were informed about the following documents, published by UIC ETF:
- Guidance on the management of distressing events and post-traumatic stress
- Guidance on the use of portable electronic devices
- Updated guidance on the development of policies for the management of alcohol and drugs
Christian Neveu (SNCF), the chairman of the Human Factor’s WG of the Safety Platform, presented the finalisation of the study “The analysis of the Human, Organisational and Social Dimension of an incident”, which will soon be published by UIC ETF.
The study on Safety Culture will be a main topic of the Human Factor’s WG over the next two years. The second UIC workshop on this topic takes place on 11 September 2012 at UIC HQ.
Concerning the Safety Performance Group/UIC Safety Database (SDB) the participants confirmed the new SDB Policy Statement. The SDB activity report 2012 is being prepared, and will be presented to the UIC Safety Platform Plenary meeting on 11 October 2012 in London.
Hans Vogt (SBB), the chairman of the International Railway Safety Network (IRSN) presented the safety issues discussed in this WG; as examples he mentioned the following surveys which had been conducted or that were in the pipeline:
- Safety measures in order to reduce risk for persons on platforms
- Obstacle detectors at level crossings
- Preventive measures against suicide
- Attacks by laser pointer
Isabelle Fonverne, Coordinator of the UIC Safety Unit of the “International Level Crossing Awareness Day” (ILCAD), spoke about this worldwide event which will be held on 7 June in 42 countries worldwide under the common message “Act safely at level crossings”. The international launch conference for ILCAD 2012 will be hosted by RFF in Paris and can be seen on 7 June from 16:00 to 17:15 in streaming at
http://www.securite-passageaniveau.fr
For further information please visit: www.ilcad.org
John Abbott (RSSB) announced the following International Railway Safety Events which will take place on 7 – 12 October 2012 in London, hosted by RSSB, Network Rail and ORR (Office of Rail Regulation/UK):
- 12th Global Level Crossing and Trespass Symposium – www.levelcrossing2012.org
- 22nd International Railway Safety Conference (IRSC) – www.irsc2012.org
Registration: IRSC-GLXS-2012 at rssb.co.uk
The UIC Safety Platform Plenary Meeting takes place on 11 October 2012, also in London.
The participants were informed by Peter Gerhardt about the global activities of the Safety Unit. Safety seminars and workshops are organised in various regions especially in the field of human factors and to establish regional safety databases.
Finally he also presented the first draft of the Safety Platform Work Programme 2013.
