Railway Safety Management Systems: Experiences to Date and Lessons Learned

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Railway Safety Management SystemsExperiences
to Date and Lessons Learned

• Presentation to IRSC 2005
• Luc Bourdon
• Director General, Rail Safety
• Transport Canada

Cape Town October, 2005
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Agenda

• The evolution of rail safety in Canada
• 1989 Railway Safety Act
• What is a Safety Management System?
• TCs RSMS Audit Program
• Audit Results To Date
• Lessons Learned/Challenges
• Conclusions

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The Evolution of Rail Safety in Canada

• 1867 The Constitution Act, (formerly the British
  North American Act) cites the Intercolonial
  Railway as part of Canadas Constitution.
• 1868 The Railway Act creates the Railway
  Committee.
• 1903 The (Canadian) Railway Act creates the
  Board of Railway Commissioners.

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The Evolution of Rail Safety in Canada (contd)

• 1967 Board of Transport Commissioners is
  replaced by the Canadian Transportation
  Commission (CTC).
• 1987 National Transportation Agency (NTA)
  replaces the CTC.
• 1989 The Railway Safety Act transferred the
  responsibility of rail safety to Transport
  Canada.

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1989 Railway Safety Act

• The Railway Safety Act came into force on January
  1, 1989. It established a new regime for the
  regulation of railway safety in Canada founded
  on the principles that railway management must be
  responsible and accountable for the safety of
  operations and that the regulator must have the
  power to protect public and employee safety.

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1989 Railway Safety Act (contd)

• The Act called for a comprehensive review of the
  new regime including an evaluation of its impact
  on the safety of railway operations within five
  years (1994 at the latest).
• Although, the Railway Safety Act was reviewed in
  1994, it was also revisited in 1997.
• The Railway Safety Act was officially amended in
  1999.

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Amendments to 1989 Railway Safety Act

• The Railway Safety Act was amended in 1999 based
  on the recommendations generated by the 1994 and
  1997 reviews.
• One of the key recommendations that was retained,
  was to adopt a more modern regulatory regime by
  requiring the railway to implement safety
  management systems.
• On March 31, 2001, the railway SMS Regulations
  came into force.

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What is an SMS

• a formal framework for integrating safety into
  day-to-day railway operations and includes safety
  goals and performance targets, risk assessments,
  responsibilities and authorities, rules and
  procedures, monitoring and evaluation processes.
  (RSA)

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SMS Regulations
Evolution of TC Compliance Monitoring Approach
Changes in the Railway Industry (more, new
railways)

Railway Safety Management System Requirements
Amendments to the Rail Safety Act - principle of
railway responsibility
Concerns raised by Derailments
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Understanding Safety Management Systems

• Loss Prevention Theory
• losses are the consequence of the interaction or
  coincidence of a series of deficiencies within a
  system
• The Safety Management System Concept
• to prevent losses, it is necessary to control the
  entire system from which the loss can arise --
  which is ultimately an issue of management policy
  and practices

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Railway Obligations

• Section 2 - Implement/maintain a SMS with
  specified components
• Safety Policy, Annual Safety Targets and
  Associated Safety Initiatives
• Safety Authorities, Responsibilities and
  Accountabilities
• Employee and Representative Involvement
• Compliance with Applicable Regulations, Rules,
  Standards and Orders
• Risk Management Process

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Railway Obligations (contd)

• Risk Control Strategies
• Accident and Incident Reporting, Investigation
  and Analysis
• Skills, Training and Supervision
• Safety Performance Data Collection and Analysis
• Safety Audit and Evaluation
• Corrective Action and Development, Approval and
  Monitoring
• Documentation

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The RSMS Process
SAFETY POLICY
COMPLIANCE OBLIGATIONS
DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS ACTIVITIES
INTERNAL AUDIT / MGT REVIEW
DATA AND TARGETS
PERFORMANCE MONITORING AND REPORTING
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TCs RSMS Audit Program

• Pre-Audit (Documentation)
• To determine if the company has produced the
  documentation stipulated by the regulation
• To prepare for the Verification audit by
  documenting (mapping) specific references within
  the companies documented process
• Verification Audit
• -To assess implementation and effectiveness

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SMS Audit Results to Date

• Some success, notably at Management Level
• Improvements needed
• Silos vs overall systems approach
• Risk Assessment Need to Walk the Talk
• lack of triggers, training
• Involvement of Employees better but can
  improve
• Pass/Fail attitude vs Continuous Improvement

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Lessons Learned/Challenges

• Integrating SMS with existing Programs
  Practices
• A new direction for Transport Canada Rail Safety
• Addresses organizational risk factors within all
  levels of a Railway
• Systems-based thinking

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Lessons Learned/Challenges (contd)

• Harmonizing RSMS Regulations with existing
  prescriptive requirements
• Performance-based RSMS regulations
• preventative thinking
• puts onus for safety management on Railways
• Flexibility in determining best regulatory
  framework

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Lessons Learned/Challenges (contd)

• A changing approach to Regulatory Oversight
• Cultural change from inspecting to auditing
• No one-size fits all approach recognize
  differences in size/nature of Railways
• Auditing challenges need for training
  education
• Incentive for companies to establish/maintain
  effective SMS

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Conclusion

• SMS leads to an enhanced safety culture it is
  a journey requiring cultural change on the part
  of the Railways and the Regulators

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Questions?
www.tc.gc.ca