Leading Health and Safety on Britain's Railway: collaborating to reduce railway risk

In this issue Ant Davey talks with Dougie Hill, Head of National Freight Strategy & Policy at Direct Rail Services, and Geoff Spencer, former CEO of DB Cargo (UK).  They talk through the challenges faced to get competing companies to collaborate.  Their work in the National Freight Safety Group, leading the freight sector to collaborative working, has led to the development and implementation of the Freight Integrated Plan for Safety.  Some of the other freight sector achievements include common safe systems of work, a Freight Fatigue Working Group, road risk collaboration with the Driving for Better Business programme, and moving freight derailment reduction from being a project to 'business as usual'.

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Topics in this episode include:

• Dougie Hill introductory biography [0:50]
• Geoff Spencer introductory biography [1:50]
• Freight sector risk reduction activities in 2016 [2:45]
• Practicalities of getting competing companies to collaborate [3:40]
• Engaging stakeholders and setting realistic timescales [5:00]
• LHSBR topics beyond derailment and early collaboration on the top freight risks [6:05]
• Managing the top risk projects [7:25]
• Notable successes for the freight sector [8:05]
• RSSB support for NFSG as a collaborative group [9:25]
• What went well in creating a collaborative environment [10:33]
• Lessons learned for those who want to implement and improve collaboration [11:45]

Resources mentioned in this episode include:

• Leading Health and Safety on Britain's Railway
• National Freight Safety Group (includes links to NFSG Derailment Project document, Integrated Plan for Freight Safety, codes of practice, Rail Freight Project Charter)
• The Viareggio train derailment [2009] Wikipedia article
• New Insights into the Viareggio Railway Accident, Manca D., 2014, New insights into the Viareggio Railway Accident, Chemical Engineering Transactions, 36, 13-18 DOI: 10.3303/CET1436003 
• Common Principles for Managing Fatigue in the Freight Sector
• Rail Freight Operations Group