You don't have to be a genius to understand that safety-critical rules have to be communicated clearly and effectively to those whose duty it is to apply them; afterall, lives can depend on careful implementation.
Unfortunately you do need at least seven brain cells to understand that truth and RSSB's unaccountable word shufflers have been unable to muster that number since loaning two to George Osborne. Consequently they have decided that the right way forward is to hide many rules in training plans and local instructions - where people at operational level can't easily find them - and to publish rule changes via a bucket called the Amendments Module.
I don't know what's right anymore. I simply can't keep up and it scares the **** out of me that I'm out there with Christ-knows-what flying around and I don't know if I'm working to the latest rules or not.
Thoughts on the Rule Book from a "keen, proud and professional"
on-track worker
This omnishambles means that many live Rule Book modules are missing new/amended instructions whilst continuing to feature others that no longer apply. From December 2013, most of the worst offending modules are being replaced or withdrawn, but 12 of the remaining 29 modules will still be out-of-date.
From June 2014, as a result of industry pressure, the Amendments Module will cease to exist - thereafter changes will be communicated via the Periodic Operating Notice or by replacement of the module concerned. This is in line with the commitment made by RSSB in 2003 but subsequently ignored.
An assessment of which modules are currently content-untrustworthy is provided below:
Module
Issue
Came into force
Amended in these issues of AM
G1
4
05/06/10
14, 15, 16, 17
AC
2
03/12/11
17
DC
2
03/12/11
16, 17
M1
2
02/06/12
up to date
M2
3
02/06/12
up to date
M3
1
02/06/12
up to date
OTM
4
04/06/11
15, 16, 17
P1
3
02/06/12
up to date
P2
3
02/06/12
up to date
PoSA
1
04/06/11
15, 16, 17
S4
3
07/12/13
up to date
S5
3
07/12/13
up to date
SP
3
07/12/13
up to date
SS1
3
01/06/13
up to date
SS2
3
01/06/13
up to date
T3
3
04/06/11
15, 16, 17
T10
2
04/12/10
14, 15, 16, 17
TS1
7
01/12/12
up to date
TS2
3
01/12/12
17
TS3
3
01/12/12
17
TS4
3
01/12/12
up to date
TS5
3
01/12/12
up to date
TS7
3
01/12/12
up to date
TS8
3
01/12/12
up to date
TS9
2
01/12/12
15, 16, 17
TW1
8
07/12/13
up to date
TW5
3
07/12/13
up to date
TW7
3
02/06/12
17
TW8
5
03/12/11
17
Below is a page-count for past issues of the Amendments Module, together with a list of modules affected, giving some insight into the perpetual state of flux the Rule Book has been in since RSSB's quality control department decided to 'improve' it. Remember, most of the changes are not driven by operational needs; they result predominantly from shabby processes at RSSB and the subsequent need to implement fixes:
Below is a page-count for past issues of the Amendments Module, together with a list of modules affected, giving some insight into the perpetual state of flux the Rule Book has been in since RSSB's quality control department decided to 'improve' it. Remember, most of the changes are not driven by operational needs; they result predominantly from shabby processes at RSSB and the subsequent need to implement fixes:
