Safety Management Systems

A Safety Management System has been defined as "a formal framework for integrating safety into day-to-day operations and includes safety goals and performance targets, risk assessments, responsibilities and authorities, rules and procedures, and monitoring and evaluation processes".

In implementing a Safety Management System within a railway company the objectives should be to ensure that safety is given management time and corporate resources and is subject to performance measurement and monitoring on par with corporate financial and production goals. Increased management attention to safety and an enhanced safety culture within the company will reduce public and employee fatalities and injuries, reduce property damage resulting from accidents and reduce the impact of accidents on the environment. In addition, a Safety Management System will enable the company to demonstrate, in a concrete and visible manner, its commitment to safety to employees, customers and the public, and will help the company ensure compliance to regulatory requirements.

The components of a Safety Management System within the rail industry include:

1. A company safety policy, annual performance targets and the associated safety initiatives to achieve the targets, approved by a senior company officer and communicated to employees;
2. Clear authorities, responsibilities and accountabilities for safety at all levels in the railway company;
3. A system for involving employees and their representatives in the development and implementation of the railway company's safety management system;
4. Systems for identifying applicable railway safety regulations, rules, standards and orders and the procedures for demonstrating compliance with them;
5. A process for :identifying safety issues and concerns, including those associated with human factors, third parties and significant changes to railway operations, and evaluating and classifying risks by means of risk assessment;
6. Risk control strategies;
7. Systems for accident and incident reporting, investigation, analysis and corrective action;
8. Systems for ensuring that employees (including management) and any other persons to whom the railway company grants access to its property have appropriate skills and training and adequate supervision to ensure that they comply with all safety requirements;
9. Procedures for the collection and analysis of data for assessing the safety performance of the railway company;
10. Procedures for periodic internal safety audits, reviews by management, monitoring and evaluations of the safety management system;
11. Systems for monitoring management-approved corrective actions resulting from these systems and procedures; and
12. Consolidated documentation describing the systems for each component of the safety management system.

Safety Management Systems, while all having the same basic components, will differ from company to company depending on the size, organization and type of operation.

A comprehensive safety management system will take considerable time to develop and implement, particularly in a large company. A review of existing safety systems and the identified problem areas will indicate which components or portions of components should be implemented on a priority basis.

Safety Management Systems are most effective if developed in house by and for the people that will be implementing them.

Jock Valley Engineering Ltd. can assist railway companies in the preparation these systems.