Transcript No Slide Title

Railway Safety Management Systems:
Experiences 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?
• 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
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 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 (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
SAFETY POLICY
COMPLIANCE
OBLIGATIONS
Enabling Components
The RSMS
Process
Core Components
DATA COLLECTION AND
ANALYSIS ACTIVITIES
INTERNAL
AUDIT / MGT
REVIEW
TRAINING
SUPERVISION
DATA
AND
TARGETS
PERFORMANCE
MONITORING
AND REPORTING
RISK
MANAGEMENT
ROLES, RESPONSIBILITIES
EMPLOYEE INVOLVEMENT
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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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Lessons Learned/Challenges (cont’d)
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
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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