Creating a better, safer railway for nearly 20 years

RSSB is urging rail organisations to make use of its treasure trove of knowledge and resources by becoming members.

The independent, not-for-profit body was created in 2003 to help the UK rail industry create a better, safer railway.

Iram Ahmed, Marketing and Communications Campaign Manager, has written the article below about its offering in making the industry’s collective knowledge available to its members and affiliates.

Something for everyone (as long as it’s rail)

Whatever type of rail project you’re running, RSSB membership can get you up and running. You don’t even have to work directly for the GB rail industry – we offer affiliation for British organisations with an interest in rail, and for rail companies based overseas.

We have a huge range of tools, resources and services. Plus consultancy and training services, which include independent verification, socio-economic impact measurement, and bespoke team development courses. We also develop and maintain Rail Industry Standards, and help our members access and stay up to date with them.

We have analysis tools to help plan and measure CSR, low-carbon investment and sustainability, to contribute to business cases for future investment. Or tackle tricky issues like employee fatigue and mental wellbeing, or maintaining safety under pressure.

You don’t have to work in the dark

Whether you’re working on a new project or updating existing work, there’s bound to be someone who’s been there before you. Becoming an RSSB member gives you access to that wealth of knowledge and experience.

You can find the full list of our services resources and toolkits on our website, but the following should give you an idea of the breadth of our offering.

Reduce risk on the network

Our RED Programmes are safety briefing videos that will help you raise awareness among your workforce of operational safety issues like near misses, fatigue and rail adhesion. We have more than 50 engaging in-depth videos created by subject experts, and we’re producing more all the time. Each video discusses a particular safety consideration for railway operations, with an emphasis on the key learning points. They’re used in safety briefings and training sessions across the industry.

Shrink your carbon footprint

Our online Rail Carbon Tool helps UK rail industry organisations understand a project or activity’s carbon footprint. It will help you calculate, assess, analyse and report on carbon emissions, as well as identify suitable low-carbon options. The aim is to reduce carbon emissions through design and construction, for capital and operational cost and carbon savings. Multiple users can simultaneously:

· Calculate carbon footprints

· Analyse the resulting carbon models

· Identify, assess, and select low carbon options

Optimise performance

Human factors is about optimising human performance in the workplace. For rail, this means looking at working environments from a human-centred point of view, studying how the whole system influences the way people behave and interact with the railway.

Our Human Factors Hub gathers guidance of all kinds to help you improve railway staff performance through systems thinking. It covers topics from safety-critical communications and taking safe decisions, to looking at the best way to design and implement technology.

We also have a Human Factors toolkit with guidance, products and services broken down into seven key areas:

· Integrating non-technical skills in competence management systems

· Fatigue, workload, and health and wellbeing management

· Applying human factors in the design and use of technology

· Identifying and managing passenger behaviour at stations, on trains and at level crossings

· Maximising on the effectiveness of competence management

· Taking a human factors approach to reliability and performance

· Measuring, evaluating and improving safety culture

With such a huge array of resources potentially at your fingertips, RSSB can really help you get up to speed. So there’s no need to duplicate work that’s already been done.

Visit www.rssb.co.uk for more details.

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