Safety

Safety, Workforce, Certification & Training

ARA throws its support behind Rail R U OK?Day

The Rail R U OK? Day is being marked around the country.

The Australasian Railway Association has given its public support to Rail R U OK?Day events held across the country recently.

ARA chief executive Caroline Wilkie said Rail R U OK?Day provided a timely reminder of the importance of wellbeing at work.

“Rail R U OK?Day is now in its seventh year and is going from strength to strength, with more than 110 organisations across Australia and New Zealand taking part in 2021,” Wilkie said.

“The ARA team will be meeting with members as they host a range of events to highlight the importance of checking in with your workmates to make sure they are OK.

“We will be joining virtual meet ups, morning teas, information sessions and more across the country to recognise the value of peer-to-peer support when we go through difficult times.”

Wilkie said the increasing number of people taking part reflected the industry’s commitment to its people.

Rail industry workers were encouraged to follow that train of thought and keep the conversation moving if someone says they are not OK.

Participants were also be provided with simple steps to support an R U OK? conversation as part of the day’s events.

“We have a real opportunity to make a difference when we recognise someone at work might not be OK,” Wilkie said.

“Today’s events provide an opportunity to share advice on how to make those conversations count so we are prepared to support each other when we turn up to work each day.

“Days like Rail R U OK? also highlight the important role the TrackSAFE Foundation plays in promoting mental health and wellbeing in the rail sector.”

Rail R U OK?Day is a join initiative of the TrackSAFE Foundation and R U OK? and is the only industry specific R U OK? day of action.

 Safety, Safety, Standards & Regulation

RISSB’s Safety List

RISSB is driving harmonisation of the Australian rail industry, and enhancing safety, productivity and efficiency. Under Australia’s co-regulatory model, RISSB supports the rail industry by coordinating the development of performance-based national rail standards and providing guidance and advice to help industry achieve safer outcomes.

RISSB is well known for helping its members mitigate their risks by providing safety tools in the form of Australian Standards, Guidelines, Codes of Practice and Rules. These publications help organisations and individuals who have a duty to ensure the health of their workforce and safety of their operations, ‘manage risks’ by eliminating or controlling them so far as is reasonably practicable (SFAIRP).

At its annual Rail Safety Conference in October last year, RISSB released a list of publications that provide practical guidance on how to manage risks in eight key areas. While the list was developed for the sole purpose of helping conference attendees understand how the conference streams and sessions aligned to RISSB publications, it is now available as aready reckoner.

One document that features on the safety list is the System Safety Assurance Guideline. This critical publication aims to create a harmonised, uniform and consistent approach for managing the safety of existing and future Australian railway network assets and systems. It provides the necessary governance, processes and objective evidence by which all interested parties satisfy themselves that a given product, service, system or organisational change can be safely integrated, operated and maintained into the transport network SFAIRP.

Another document that highlights the need for greater vigilance and control mechanisms in the rail corridor is AS 7644 Rail Corridor Access. As the name suggests, the aim of this Standard is to outline requirements that encourage rail organisations to adopt a whole-of- life approach to the management of rail corridor access. This approach includes the requirements in relation to rail corridor access in terms of design, supply, construction, and maintenance of access controls for a range of operational railways in Australia.

For the benefit of all who could not attend the conference, the list of downloadable resources (as they relate to conference streams) has been reproduced.

To access these publications and others in RISSB’s suite of Australian Standards, Codes of Practice Guidelines and Rules, visit www.rissb.com.au.

The documents on this list are a small representative sample of RISSB’s library of more than 210 publications that cover all aspects of rail operations. If you would like to receive a copy of our catalogue, please send an email with the subject line REQUEST TO RECEIVE CATALOGUE to info@rissb.com.au.