The Rail Safety and Standards Board Podcast RSSB

Welcome back to a new season of the RSSB Podcast. In this episode, we’re joined by RSSB Chief Executive Mark Phillips. Mark takes us through our five-year Strategic Business Plan covering 2024–2029, pulling out some of the key priorities along the way. He’s particularly excited to see how rail can leverage some of the technological and digital advancements taking place. Listen now to learn more about what we’re hoping to deliver to industry in the next few years.

Related information

Strategic Business Plan 2024-2029: https://www.rssb.co.uk/about-rssb/who-we-are/strategic-business-plan-2024-29

Welcome to another episode of the RSSB podcast! Today, join four members of our Executive Committee — Johnny Schute (Chief Operating Officer), Keith Hanlon-Smith (Chief People Officer), Hannah Kingsley (Chief Finance Officer), and Paul McLaughlin (Chief Commercial Officer) — as they outline industry's current challenges, discuss RSSB's priorities in addressing those, and introduce our new 'strategic multipliers'.

You can find out more about our 2024–2025 Annual Business Plan at: https://www.rssb.co.uk/about-rssb/who-we-are/our-business-plan.

Joana Faustino, Work Psychologist at RSSB, talks about the feelings we might be experiencing and some coping strategies for the pressures that we are facing.

01:00 Possible effects of the lockdown on your mental health.
03:10 Acknowledging your emotions.
04:12 How are news reports affecting you?
04:55 Managing worry.
07:09 Managing difficult situations.
09:30 Physical and mental health working together.
10:40 Keeping a routine.
12:28 Getting help from others.
13:30 Identifying and solving problems.
15:44 Help from outside sources.
16:48 How we can help others.

Resources mentioned in this episode:
Postpone your worry leaflet: https://www.cci.health.wa.gov.au/~/media/CCI/Mental%20Health%20Professionals/Generalised%20Anxiety/Generalised%20Anxiety%20-%20Information%20Sheets/Generalised%20Anxiety%20Information%20Sheet%20-%2005%20-%20Postpone%20your%20Worry.pdf
Postpone your worry worksheet: https://www.cci.health.wa.gov.au/~/media/CCI/Mental%20Health%20Professionals/Generalised%20Anxiety/Generalised%20Anxiety%20-%20Worksheets/Generalised%20Anxiety%20Worksheet%20-%2001%20-%20Postpone%20your%20Worry.pdf
Problem solving worksheet: https://www.getselfhelp.co.uk/docs/ProblemSolvingWorksheet.pdf
NHS How to get to sleep: https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/sleep-and-tiredness/how-to-get-to-sleep/
NHS Your Mind Plan: https://www.nhs.uk/oneyou/every-mind-matters/your-mind-plan-quiz/
Mind for better mental health: https://www.mind.org.uk/coronavirus-we-are-here-for-you/
Samaritans: https://www.samaritans.org/ 
You can find links to other related resources for the rail industry and for individuals by going to the RSSB website www.rssb.co.uk and searching for 'Covid-19' or 'mental wellbeing'.  These include other resources and articles such as:
Local IAPT service : an NHS service that provides talking therapies for common mental health difficulties.
The Railway Mission : The Railway Mission have set up a dedicated support mailbox for rail staff during the pandemic at COVID19@railwaymission.org.  Rail staff can also phone, text, or WhatsApp on 07903-505868.
The Covid-19 Road Transport Toolkit: https://www.drivingforbetterbusiness.com/covid-19/

Trevor Parkin of East Midlands Railway and Chris Harrison of RSSB talk about what the rail industry is doing to reduce the number of signals passed at danger, and so the likelihood of a potentially fatal train accident.

01:25 About Trevor Parkin.
02:10 About Chris Harrison.
02:35 SPADs in the 1990s and the changes made since.
03:53 The Train Protection and Warning System (TPWS).
06:07 Optimising the safety benefit of TPWS.
07:59 The Red Aspect Approaches to Signals (RAATS) Tool.
12:32 How to reduce SPAD numbers—the strategy.
14:50 About the SPAD Risk Subgroup.
18:05 Industry challenges for the RAATS Tool.
22:03 Getting train operators to use RAATS.
Resources mentioned in this episode:
SPAD Good Practice Guide  https://www.rssb.co.uk/Insights-and-News/Key-Industry-Topics/SPAD-Good-Practice-Guide 
SPAD Risk Subgroup  https://www.rssb.co.uk/Learn-and-Connect/Groups-and-Committees/Safety/SSRG/TARG/SPAD-RSG 
Red Aspect Approaches to Signals (RAATS) Toolkit  https://www.rssb.co.uk/Standards-and-Safety/Tools--Resources/Rail-Risk-Toolkit/Red-Aspect-Approaches-to-Signals-Toolkit
Other related resources:
SPAD Risk Ranking Tool  https://www.rssb.co.uk/Standards-and-Safety/Tools--Resources/Rail-Risk-Toolkit/SPAD-Risk-Ranking-Tool
Signals passed at danger – A summary of the rail industry's approach to risk reduction
https://www.sparkrail.org/Lists/Records/DispForm.aspx?ID=26755 

This podcast looks at the part that CIRAS, the Confidential Incident Reporting and Analysis Service, contributes to the continual improvement of safety management for the railway and other transport systems.
In this episode Catherine Baker, director of CIRAS, talks about how the confidential reporting service works—the types of incidents and reasons for calls, and examples of the results that CIRAS achieves.  She also talks about what CIRAS does to maintain confidentiality, and how the service complements an organisation's existing reporting and whistleblowing systems. 

00:40 About Catherine Baker.
01:00 What is confidential reporting?
01:58 Common barriers to raising an issue at work.
02:30 Confidential reporting in practice.
03:25 Sharing findings with all CIRAS members.
03:45 The most commonly reported issues
04:48 Why people contact CIRAS
05:10 How confidential reporting differs from internal reporting or whistleblowing.
06:30 How confidential reporting makes a difference.
07:09 How CIRAS maintains confidentiality.
08:18 The impact of Covid-19 on CIRAS reporting
09:15 The future need for CIRAS
10:15 Where to find out more.
 Resources mentioned in this episode:
·    CIRAS website: https://www.ciras.org.uk/
·    CIRAS on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ciras/ 
·    CIRAS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ciras_uk 

In this episode Dougie Hill, Head of National Freight Strategy & Policy at Direct Rail Services, and Geoff Spencer, former CEO of DB Cargo (UK), talk through the challenges to get competing companies to collaborate.  Their work in the National Freight Safety Group (NFSG) has led to the Freight Integrated Plan for Safety.

00:50 About Dougie Hill.
01:50 About Geoff Spencer.
02:45 Freight sector risk reduction in 2016.
03:40 Practicalities of getting competing companies to collaborate.
05:00 Engaging stakeholders and setting realistic timescales.
06:50 LHSBR topics beyond derailment and early collaboration.
07:25 Managing the top risk projects and some notable successes.
09:25 RSSB support for NFSG as a collaborative group.
10:33 What worked to create a collaborative environment.
11:45 Lessons learned to implement and improve collaboration
Resources mentioned in this episode:
National Freight Safety Group: https://www.rssb.co.uk/Learn-and-Connect/Groups-and-Committees/Safety/SSRG/NFSG 
The Viareggio train derailment [2009] Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viareggio_train_derailment
New Insights into the Viareggio Railway Accident, Manca D., 2014, Chemical Engineering Transactions, 36, 13-18 DOI: 10.3303/CET1436003] https://www.aidic.it/cet/14/36/003.pdf

Managing Fatigue in the Freight Sector https://www.rssb.co.uk/Insights-and-News/Key-Industry-Topics/Fatigue-and-Alertness/Common-Principles-for-Managing-Fatigue-in-the-Freight-Sector
Rail Freight Operations Group https://www.rssb.co.uk/Learn-and-Connect/Groups-and-Committees/Safety/SSRG/NFSG/RFOG
Other related resources:
Road Risk Collaboration https://www.rssb.co.uk/Standards-and-Safety/Improving-Safety-Health--Wellbeing/Enhancing-Safety-Health--Wellbeing-Through-Collaboration/Rail-Industry-Road-Risk-Resource-Centre/Road-risk-collaboaration
Managing Occupational Road Risk Related to Fatigue https://www.rssb.co.uk/Insights-and-News/Key-Industry-Topics/Fatigue-and-Alertness/Fatigue-Risk-Management-Systems/Managing-occupational-road-risk-related-to-fatigue