There are 21 projects and programmes within the Home Safe Plan (Integrated Safety Plan) that are designed to make a step change in the safety, health and wellbeing of our people. These are;
Designed to
- Reduce fatigue
- Reduce fatigue related incidents
- Risk assess working hours where appropriate
Fatigue is known to be a cause of, or contributory factor, in many of our work related injuries. Especially with regard to driving.
Designed to
- Establish one company wide risk assessment relevant to each individual task being undertaken
- Develop better dynamic risk assessments throughout Network Rail
Accurate and consistent risk assessments will allow staff to anticipate and prevent injury and ill health.
Designed to
- Provide a managed process for up-skilling all driving staff
- Vehicle Telematics Systems (VTS) to be fitted across Network Rail’s road fleet
- Re-enforcement of the LifeSaving Rule to always wear a seatbelt
We want to achieve a reduction in road accidents, injuries and risks for Network Rail staff – many of our recent serious accidents have been driving related. More information can be found on the MORR page on Safety Central.
Designed to
- Heighten situational awareness of fatigue risks across the rail industry
- Simplify and increase compliance by recording safety briefs, site inductions and competence
- Identify and deter ghost working
Sharing information between suppliers, sponsors and other rail partners will improve workforce safety by deterring double shifting and enforcing the 12-hour rest rule.
For more information visit the Sentinel website.
Designed to
- Educate our workforce including development of a competence framework
- Improve business processes and refreshing standards
- Enhance the infrastructure through technology deployment, research and development
There have been some significant injuries caused by contact with electricity and we are currently non-compliant with Electricity at Work Regulations.
For more information visit the Electrical Safety page.
Designed to
- Develop both tactical and strategic products and solutions to improve trackworker safety
- Enable projects to reduce human error failure modes
- Improve reliability of protection and warning systems for trackworkers
The programme develops new high integrity trackworker protection and warning systems to reduce the enterprise risk of workers being struck by a train.
Designed to create a single person in charge who
- Has worked on the plan with the planner
- Is competent to make dynamic risk assessments
- Is competent and confident to challenge for safety
Where work is planned will in advance and by those who will do the work, our data tells is it is safer. On site there needs to be a single accountable individual, minding charge of both the task and the safe delivery of the work.
For more information visit Planning and Delivering Safe Work.
Designed to
- Create a balanced scorecard which measures Infrastructure Projects suppliers safety performance
- Review of safety evaluation tender criteria in pre-contract activities
- Develop tools and training to enable those using the process to deliver a consistent approach across all of IP and its associated supply chain
Many of those working on our infrastructure are contractors, thus the project aims to deliver fewer accidents and incidents and more work opportunities for safer suppliers.
Designed to
- Provide a time for line management to talk about, and engage with their team around safety
- Increase risk awareness and safety solution ownership
- Enable staff to challenge around safety
- Provide a regular communication channel for safety across the business
A culture of safety needs to be embedded throughout Network Rail. Having regular time to plan safety, and discuss safety issues, will increase safety knowledge, challenge and thus improvement in safety.
To access a variety of Safety Hour discussion packs visit Tools and Resources.
Designed to
- Increase awareness of the risks of the railway, improving safety by reducing trespass and vandalism, and improving level crossing behaviour
- Improve reputation of Network Rail in the communities targeted
- Reduce disruption from trespass, vandalism and fatalities
Our infrastructure is a dangerous place, particularly for the public who are less aware and protected from the hazards. With an open railway like ours we need to minimise access and ensure that the public use the railway safely.
Designed to
- Maximise level crossing risk reduction during Control Period 5 (CP5)
- Deliver a 25% reduction in level crossing system risk during CP5
Level crossings remain a high risk point on the infrastructure. This is a £99 million ring-fenced fund to maximise risk reduction at level crossings through a national programme of closures and enhancements.
Designed to
- Increase awareness of the risks of the railway
- Improve safety by reducing slips, trips and falls and reduction in falls from platforms
- Reduce cost of incidents and delays, thus improving customer satisfaction
Provides a strategic overview for managing safety performance at all stations through clear guidance and signposts. Key documents created to allow a consistent approach across the organisation.
Designed to
- Enable future level crossing risk reduction activities
- Deliver new tools to help manage the risk of level crossings across our network
Provides a collection of work streams to enable improvements in level crossing safety through technological innovation.
Designed to
- Establish key milestones (both leading and lagging)
- Enable the business to track safety benefit realisation
This project provides an overview of all the Network Rail initiatives working towards the management of train accident risk in a dedicated area with key milestones.
Designed to
- Implement a risk reduction standard
- Establish a process to manage employees exposure to occupational health hazards
Many of the activities on the railway have respiratory risks – such as the risk associated with ballast dust, asbestos and silica.
To find out more about respiratory hazards visit the Health and Wellbeing pages.
Designed to
- Review and update the current medical fitness for work standards
- Embed these standards within the Business Critical Rules (BCR) framework
- Raise awareness of health issues in both individuals and line managers
Network Rail needs to balance the requirement for safety on the line with the need to support employees with health conditions to enable them to continue in their role.
Designed to
- Build awareness and education of wellbeing and enable a more resilient workforce
- Improve the management of mental health
- Reduce the cost of absence related to mental wellbeing
To find out more about your mental resilience visit the Health and Wellbeing pages.
Designed to
- Update the Network Rail First Aid Standard
- Comply with First Aid legislation
- Develop effective communication and feedback for First Aiders
This will ensure Network Rail is aligned with the Health and Safety Executive and the First Aid regulations as well as increasing the number of First Aiders in the business and improving the support and communication they receive.
Designed to
- Assess manual handling related risks
- Baseline current issues and develop interventions i.e. tools, technology and training
- Bring Network Rail into line with statutory requirements on risk
Musculoskeletal injuries form a significant component of workforce injuries in Network Rail. This programme sets out a plan to identify, and reduce, manual handling risks across Network Rail.
For further information visit the Manual Handling pages.
Designed to
- Manage key risks in a simpler, safer and more effective way
- Drive system wide improvements in system/process and individual safety
- Deliver efficiency and performance benefits through better management of Network Rail assets
Network Rail had 1400 rules for safety, These needed to be consolidated, simplified , and a risk based process put in place to update these, and to involve frontline operatives in solving local safety issues and the setting of standards/rules.
Designed to
- Create one Integrated Management System used by all of Network Rail
- Drive accountability and an improved compliance culture
- Avoid repetition of effort from repeated improvement notices
- Improved governance and assurance
Map and consolidate the current landscape. Identify and close gaps towards ISO55000, ISO9001, ISO14001 and OHSAS18001 in one logical framework.
