In response to the requirements of Article 9 of the European Directive on Railway Safety (2004/49/EC), which provides for the obligatory establishment of operational safety management systems by railway undertakings and infrastructure managers, the Quality Group of the Freight Forum decided to elaborate a guide to help Freight Forum members apply these requirements.

The Guide was officially presented to a wide audience of railway experts in June during a seminar chaired by Mr Helmut Pfeiffer (Rail Cargo Austira), Chairman of the Freight Forum Quality Group.

The main focus of the seminar was the implementation of the recommendations made by the guide for the integration of safety management systems into existing quality management systems or as independent management systems.

The Guide exists in all three UIC languages and is available free of charge for UIC members on the Extranet.

For non UIC members the Guide can be purchased on the UIC internet site at the following address: http://www.uic.asso.fr/etf/

For more information please contact Helmut Pfeiffer: Helmut.Pfeiffer at railcargo.at