Railway Safety Management Systems:Experiences to Date and Lessons Learned

Presentation to IRSC 2005

Luc Bourdon

Director General, Rail SafetyTransport 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?

• TC’s 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 Canada’s 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 (cont’d)

• 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 (cont’d)

• 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

Changes in the

Railway Industry

(more, new

railways)

Concerns raised

by Derailments

Evolu

tion o

f TC

Complia

nce

Monitorin

g

Approac

h

Amendments to

the Rail Safety

Act - principle of

railway

responsibility

Railway Safety Management System

Requirements

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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 ObligationsSection 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 (cont’d)• 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

DATA AND

TARGETS

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS ACTIVITIES

RISK MANAGEMENT

Core Components

TR

AIN

ING

ROLES, RESPONSIBILITIES

SU

PE

RV

ISIO

N

EMPLOYEE INVOLVEMENT

Enabling Components

COMPLIANCE OBLIGATIONS

SAFETY POLICY

INTERNAL AUDIT / MGT

REVIEW

PERFORMANCE MONITORING

AND REPORTING

The RSMS Process

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TC’s 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

i. 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 (cont’d)

ii. 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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iii. 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

Lessons Learned/Challenges (cont’d)

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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