Scope and purpose
Safety Policy Group (SPG) is a cross industry group which provides oversight of and governance for a number of key RSSB activities related to RSSB’s purpose. SPG’s purpose is to provide advice, make recommendations and to approve certain types of document for publication on behalf of the RSSB Board.
The Safety Policy Group is complementary to and operates in parallel with the Industry Standards Co-ordination Committee (ISCC) which deals with all issues relating to GB and European standards. SPG liaises with ISCC on all issues where there may be overlap in scope.
In particular, but without limitation, SPG oversees the following
- Support industry safety planning
- Coordination of industry responses to significant health and safety legislative proposals
- Safety Management Systems Programme, including approval of publications
- Development and delivery of RSSB’s function to gather, analyse and report safety performance and risk information
- Strategic management issues arising from accident investigations
- Safety policy issues, including particular matters raised by the RSSB Board
- Coordination of industry input into the development and monitoring of the safety element of the Government High Level Output Specification.
- Coordination, within the constraints of the European framework, of industry input to the safety workstreams of the European Rail Agency NOTE 1
- RSSB research and development in the Safety Policy & Risk Management, and Health topics, in its role as senior client group.
SPG is the parent body for and oversees the activities of the following stakeholder groupsNOTE 2
- Safety Legislation Committee
- Safety Risk Model Practitioners Working Group
- Precursor Indicator Model Practitioners Working Group
- Risk Management Forum steering group
- Forum of GB representatives to the ERA working groups for its safety workstreams (including CSM, CST, CSI, safety certification)
- SMIS Programme Board
SPG has the authority to approve for publication documents in the following categories:
- R&D Topic Research Plans where SPG is the senior client group
- Processes for Co-operation where they fall within the competence of SPG
- Other categories from time to time delegated by the Board.
Where appropriate, SPG will agree remits for work to be done, and review the outcomes, but will not be involved in managing work.
Membership
Membership of SPG will consist of
- One member (two for Network Rail) for each RSSB constituency, nominated by the relevant Industry Director.
- One observer from each of DfT and ORR.
- Representatives from other bodies (such as High Speed 1), by SPG consensus.
- RSSB directors and managers with direct responsibility for the activities that SPG supervises and RSSB's manager with responsibility for the business of SPG.
- A chairman nominated every two years from amongst the membership and endorsed by the RSSB Board.
Members may nominate alternates from within their constituencies, and be supported by observers to contribute to specific agenda items.
Members of SPG are expected to represent, to the best of their ability, the constituency that nominated them to participate in SPG. Where SPG is asked to approve anything for publication, members should ensure so far as they can that the documents are supported by their constituencies.
If the chairman is not an RSSB representative, then the constituency which the chairman represents will be invited to nominate a new representative.
Administration
RSSB will
- Call SPG meetings six times per year, aligned to meetings of the RSSB Board
- Make papers available electronically five days before the meeting
- Produce minutes recording actions, and circulate them within seven days of the meeting
- Cause an annual review of the SPG remit and membership
- Submit an annual stewardship report to the RSSB Board
NOTE 1 Overseeing and encouraging coordination of industry inputs to ERA and representative bodies working groups includes reviewing and influencing membership of ERA and representative body work groups, highlighting to RSSB members and the RSSB Board where there are significant risks relating to ERA and EU outputs and recommending actions to mitigate those risks. SPG also facilitates working in conjunction with DfT and ORR representatives on ERA working groups to ensure they are properly briefed as to the industry position on key topics
NOTE 2 SPG remit supporting document contains remits for all these groups, as approved by SPG
SPG has developed and approved a business plan for the period 2010-2014. The strategic objectives for the group are as follows:
1. Governance – Actively review the SPG business plan and remit to reflect the ongoing needs of industry stakeholders and the RSSB Board
2. Safety Information strategy:
- Development of a strategy for the future collection of safety data, its analysis and promulgation of intelligence from that analysis to the industry to meet its needs for learning from operational experience.
- Contribute to the development of an industry wide information management strategy in so far as the needs for data, analysis and reporting are concerned – identifying opportunities to secure data synergistically from other systems or to supply data to other systems (depends on there being an industry wide initiative to have an information management strategy).
- Oversee and advise on the development and maintenance of the Safety Risk Model, PIM and Industry Shared Risk Database.
- Monitor the delivery of the SSP trajectories, HLOS metrics and NRVs and advise the Board of any significant variances.
3. Safety Planning – Support duty holders in the development of and management of their safety management systems and safety plans.
4. a) European Safety Agenda – Develop and implement a proactive and strategic approach to EU legislation and regulation in the field of safety through
- Identification of issues that affect the GB railway
- Developing a GB rail strategic position and seeking agreement to it among all those who have rights of representation in Brussels[1]
- Identifying / collating evidence to support the GB position
- Influencing the EU safety and regulatory agenda in support of the GB rail position through both formal channels and direct lobby of the relevant agencies.
4. b) GB Safety and regulatory agenda – Develop and implement a proactive and strategic approach to GB legislation and regulation in the field of safety through
5. Accident Investigation and recommendation management – Monitor the extent to which the current arrangements for accident investigation (Inquests, RAIB Investigation, Formal Investigation, Local Inquiry etc) meet the needs of the industry, and make recommendations to improve its effectiveness and reduce associated costs, noting the output of the DfT led review of the handling of recommendations made by RAIB.
6. Support RSSB members with the development of more effective and efficient Safety Management Systems as an input to positively influencing behaviour and delivering improved safety at a lower cost.
7. Identifying a strategy for the cooperative approach to the improvement of culture, behaviours, and the proper integration of human factors into management systems.
8. Research and development – Develop a medium and long term plan for the undertaking and exploitation of Research and Development in the Safety Planning & Risk Management, and Health topic areas.
[1] Recognising that this is where achievable in the current industry structure
SPG Members
Anson Jack (RSSB) Chair
John Abbott (RSSB)
Colin Dennis (RSSB)
Allan Spence (Network Rail)
Gary Cooper (ATOC)
Francis How (RIA)
Alan Tordoff (DB Schenker)
Tim Gilbert (Porterbrook)
Keith Watson (High Speed 1)
Graham Arkwright (RSSB) - (Meeting Manager)
Kraig McCarthy (DfT) Observer
Colin Greenslade (ORR) Observer
Tony Vozniak (ISLG)