Safe but not sound  Last month, a "former track maintenance engineer" publicised his view that red zone working at switches and crossings should be consigned to the history books. From which hat does this magician intend to pull all those extra line blockages? May 2008 |
Empty box, golden wrapping  The railway's 2008-2010 Strategic Safety Plan was launched silently in January. No wonder RSSB didn't draw attention to it - it's completely devoid of substance. April 2008 |
| COSSt a packet Reform of our competency regime offers a rare win-win - sharpening the focus of our safety critical friends whilst clawing back cash by the bucketful. Doing nothing will leave us continuing to manage the fallout from floundering practitioners. March 2008 |
| Utopia in a real world Having sent the old PTS video to the knackers yard, NR has unveiled 20 new bite-sized modules featuring real people in the real world. How long before magnifying glasses and slow-motion controls reveal some procedural oddities? February 2008 |
| Blissful ignorance strikes again 'Point watching' has become a pragmatic solution to work at busy junctions. Unfortunately it was not applied last March at Tinsley Green, resulting in a near-death experience for a welder. Why then does RAIB want to ban the practice? January 2008 |
| Plan, resource, deliver Five years ago this month, the railway was entertained to a Christmas pantomine - the implementation of Rimini. After a few difficult months, it cemented its place in the track safety landscape. What difference has it made and will it still be with us in another five years? December 2007 |
| Elephant in the room Statistics suggest that workforce safety has recovered well from the tragedy of Tebay. Reports received by CIRAS paint a rather different picture. What's the real story and why do managers focus on the 'workface procedure' as a safeguard against cock-up and conspiracy. November 2007 |
| The forgotten art of risk assessment Policymakers mandate irrelevant PPE. The RMT wants dedicated COSSs. Whatever happened to 'horses for courses'? October 2007 |
| Golden nuggets in dark corners In March 2006, eight trackworkers - fully laden with paperwork - had a lucky escape when a train rampaged through their unprotected worksite. Why did every one of the industry's defences fail them? September 2007 |
| Revelation! Recent research by the HSE and RSSB has inspired us at death by health and safety to begin our own programme of investigations. We're sure you'll agree that it represents staggering value for money. September 2007 |
| The pendulum swings Since the Seventies, a scattering of safeguards have transformed the working lives of many railwayman. But safety engineers have now buried frontline activity beneath a burden of irrelevance. August 2007 |
| Wise after the event?
Trains are not to be tangled with. Luckily their approach is predictable - governed by steel guides. What then can we do to lift the uncertainty of work near junctions which has caused several deaths over the past decade?
July 2007 |
| Put a sock in it
Don’t bother developing a robust rationale next time you want the rules changed - just stir-up a press campaign, secure the support of your MP and threaten legal action.
June 2007 |
| Blood squeezed from precious stone
Phase two of the changes to our possession procedures come into force on 2nd June. It's not easy to find a clear path through the burgeoning verbiage.
May 2007 |
| Damned if you do, fired if you don't CIRAS research lifts the lid on the causes of rule violation. Half are deliberate, and most of these result from specific instructions by a manager or supervisor. April 2007 |
| Surfing the knowledge ocean Another stream of data traffic has been diverted onto the superhighway. The National Electronic Sectional Appendix is great news for Rimini planners but why will contractors have to pay for it? March 2007 |
| Going through the motions
Publishing safety plans is a risky business as effort is required to deliver them. Three supposed 'commitments' recently caught our eye before disappearing over the horizon with their backsides on fire.
February 2007 |
| Foot-in-mouth disease
It's undeniable that the scourge of foot-in-mouth disease causes safety to lose its grip on a daily basis. Will Network Rail's day-long workshops help achieve its goal of world class voice communications throughout the industry?
January 2007 |
| Three-course dog's dinner
Where are the T2 rules? In a three-course dog's dinner comprising T2 itself, module AM and December's PON. Is this the 'clarity in action' we were promised during the Rule Book's cosmetic surgery?
December 2006 |
| Plugging the hole Techno-wizards have lit a flickering flame of hope for those of us prejudiced against separated green zones - the Train Alert Handswitch. Will our leaders recognise its life-saving potential and help navigate it through the perilous approval quagmire? November 2006 |
| Suicidal tendencies Safety is compromised by its own complications. Whilst flaws in our processes have long been recognised, the courage and determination to radically reform them still lies undiscovered. The price for that failing continues to be made by our trackworkers. October 2006 |
| Gravy train With infrastructure costs soaring, it's no longer tenable to invest in health and safety nonsense just because there's a budget to be spent or box to be ticked. September 2006 |
| Another fine mess The brown sticky stuff would hit the fan if office workers were sprayed with sewerage every hour. However North East trackworkers have to grin and bear it. August 2006 |
| The silly season Its members often fall foul of the rat's nest of track safety instructions and yet the RMT is marshalling its forces against simplification of T12 and T12. July 2006 |
| Sleeping dog dies The TSSG sniffed out innovation, made lots of noise and dragged workforce safety from the undergrowth. But it's now passed away after a period of ill health. June 2006 |
| Hell and damnation Cut the shackles. Mop up the trifle. Let's rediscover a simple, forgotten principle: safety stems from people, not process. May 2006 |
| A balanced diet Red zone working is fundamentally sound and the right choice for some tasks. We should select the best system from the menu, not the first edible option. April 2006 |
| The elastic limit Welcome to a 21st Century worksite featuring 76 COSSs, 34 machines, two trains and a demanding client. And you're working to rules created in the 20th Century. March 2006 |
| Close encounters Life-threatening incidents have been part of the railway's furniture since Stephenson launched his Rocket. Even now we average ten close encounters between trackworkers and trains every month. But why do many more near misses go unreported? February 2006 |
| Shorn of the fripperies Some passengers now have to fork out "eye watering" sums for the pleasure of travelling on our trains. So it's incumbent on the industry to extract maximum value from every penny earned. Why then does RSSB insist on embracing peripheral trivia? January 2006 |
| The corridor of uncertainty Separated green zones have become the default safe system for routine activities in darkness but they neither prevent an encounter with passing trains nor warn of their approach. They offer all the protection of a chocolate fireguard and the sooner they're relegated from the Rimini Premier League the safer people will be. December 2005 |
| The fog begins to clear No sooner has the current edition of the PTS Handbook settled into its home of the dusty shelf than a new one falls through the letter box. But issue 6 - which goes live in December - is very different. At long last, the handbook is going back to basics, offering a common sense reference and revision resource for the new starter. November 2005 |
| Window dressing Site induction courses. Endless briefings. The grotesque destruction of the rain forest that is a typical method statement. It all purports to improve our safety. In reality, it's just a cardboard facade for companies to hide behind. October 2005 |
| Death by design Trackworker fatalities are happening all too regularly - it's a serious challenge for the railway. So why do trackworkers get killed? Simple - because that's the climate the industry has created. September 2005 |
| Access all areas? The term 'position of safety' is self-explanatory. Such a shame then that trackworkers have to walk in a 'position of danger' to get to their sites of work. Their institutionally conditioned to tolerate missing cesses but why should they have to? July 2005 |
| Rearranging the deckchairs The COSS Handbook seaped out of the treacle factory with the bold intention of explaining track safety instructions in a clear and understandable way. Hang on a minute - wasn't the new Rule Book meant to do that? May 2005 |
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