Safety Workshop

Safety and security in today’s rail systems
A one-day workshop hosted by Vectra Group Limited

Safety and Security are receiving increasing attention within the rail industry as a consequence of the new safety climate and heightened awareness of terrorist activities. The main objective of this workshop is to facilitate the sharing of experiences and best practice on these topics from within the rail and other regulated industries.

The workshop is being run in two parts; the first part focussing on safety within the new European safety and systems standards framework, and the second part providing an overview of the application of security measures within industries with highly sensitive assets.

European standards EN 50126 and EN 50129 will be the focus of the Safety Standards part of the workshop. EN 50126 addresses a process to enable a consistent approach to the management of reliability, availability, maintainability and safety (RAMS). EN 50129 covers safety related systems intended for railway signalling applications, and provides guidance on the safety evidence required to demonstrate the safety of a system (safety case). Additional information and guidance is given on some key components of safety assessment, for example safety integrity levels (SILs), hazard and risk analysis, and measures for avoiding systematic faults.

The second part of the workshop explores the likely impact of increased security on existing railways and new infrastructure projects. Securing assets is every company’s responsibility and assets include the travelling public using transportation systems. The likely impacts may affect capital expenditure, station layout and design, rolling stock, passenger behaviour and journey times. The workshop will be intentionally participative to ensure idea sharing around the topic.