Who We Are

The Rail Safety and Standards Board (RSSB) was established in April 2003, implementing one of the core sets of recommendations from the second part of Lord Cullen’s public inquiry into the Ladbroke Grove accident.

The Company’s primary objective is to lead and facilitate the railway industry’s work to achieve continuous improvement in the health and safety performance of the railways in Great Britain, and thus to facilitate the reduction of risk to passengers, employees and the affected public.

Key elements of the company’s remit are to:

• Manage Railway Group Standards on behalf of the industry
• Lead the development of long-term safety strategy for the industry, including the publication of annual Railway Strategic Safety Plans
• Propose change through facilitation of the research and development programme, education and awareness
• Measure, report and inform on health and safety performance, safety intelligence, trends, data and risk
• Support cross-industry groups in national programmes which address major areas of safety concern
• Facilitate the effective representation of the UK rail industry in the development of European legislation and standards that impact on the rail system

RSSB is a not-for-profit company owned by major industry stakeholders. The company is limited by guarantee and is governed by its members, a board and an advisory committee. It is independent of any single railway company and of their commercial interests.