The UIC Safety Platform Steering Group meeting took place on 11 February 2015 in Paris under the leadership of the Chairman Peter Kleinschuster (ÖBB).
About 20 participants from 12 railway companies attended the meeting.
The UIC General Director, Jean-Pierre Loubinoux, welcomed the participants and highlighted the importance of the activities of the railway companies in the field of safety as a transversal railway system aspect. He presented a short overview of the main results of the General Assembly in December 2014 and highlighted the final results of the 1st call of the EU Horizon 2020 programme where UIC is involved in four European projects. Finally he underlined the importance to continue according to schedule and target activities in the field of safety in the railway system, including supporting safety activities on a global level.
During the first part of the meeting the participants were informed about significant developments in the field of railway safety, accidents and incidents.
Colin Clifton (ATOC) and Christian Neveu (SNCF) informed the participants about the preparation of the following three confirmed multidisciplinary Task Forces, where the kick-off meetings are scheduled in the next two months:
• Safe Contractor Management
• Signal Passed at Danger (SPAD)
• Safety Culture and Safety Management System
The railway companies were asked to appoint further experts to participate in these Task Forces.
Jean-George Heintz, UIC expert on dangerous goods transportation, gave an overview about the organisation and international activities in this field. He will also attend the next ERA-workshop on this subject which will take place from 17 – 19 February 2015 in Valenciennes. The participants expressed the importance of a common position of the railway sector on this important safety issue.
Nicola Lelli (UIC Freight Department) reported on the preparation of a joint workshop called “Safe loading – a matter for all rail partners” with the objective to raise awareness among all those involved in this subject which is very relevant for railway safety. This awareness event is scheduled for 11 June 2015 at Paris, UIC HQ.
The invitation and the programme will be published soon.
The Chairman of the System Safety Management Group (SSMG)/CER Safety Support Group, Jean-Francois Meunier, reported on the main current topics of this group, which deals in particular with ERA related safety issues.
He focused on the following items:
• Risk Acceptance Criteria for Technical systems (RAC-TS).
• Joint Network Secretariat – Urgent procedure
• Single Safety Certificate
• Preparation of a workshop on the “Implementation of CSM on monitoring”
Isabelle Fonverne reported on activities within the area of Level Crossing Safety:
• UN-ECE Group of Experts on improving safety at level crossings, results of the meeting in Geneva from 29 – 30 January 2015; the 5th meeting is scheduled to be held from 15 – 16 June 2015.
• 7th edition of the “International Level Crossing Awareness Day” (ILCAD) on 3 June 2015, coordinated by UIC: www.ilcad.org.
A press conference and round table with experts from road and rail will be hosted by TCDD in Istanbul.
Peter Gerhardt informed the participants about the “International Railway Safety Council” (IRSC) to be held from 4 – 9 October 2015 in Johannesburg, South Africa.
The main conference theme this year: “Rail Safety standards, processes and systems where old and new operations co-exist“.
The website for registration and to submit abstracts is open now: www.irsc2015.org
Meryem Belhaj announced a second UIC Focus on Human Factors, which will be published soon.
The next UIC Safety Platform Steering Group meeting is scheduled to take place on 24 June 2015; the plenary will take place on 22 October at Paris, UIC HQ.
