Compliance with ROGS

The Railways and Other Guided Transport Systems (Safety Regulations) 2006 (ROGS) were introduced across the industry in April 2006.

Inspectors assess that railway operators and railway infrastructure managers on the mainline railway are complying with the new requirements by carrying out random inspections.

The reason for this is to check that the rail industry have management systems in place and that they are effective in controlling the health and safety risks. We also target risk areas of particular concern under what are called mandatory inspection programmes. In other words, we will visit the industry to check for very specific things related to ROGS, which is part of our wider health and safety strategy.

What happens during an inspection or audit?

We will issue a safety certificate (or ‘authorisation’ for infrastructure managers) indicating that we have checked and approved their safety management system and that they have the authority to operate.

Our inspectors pay a visit to check that the ROGS systems are in place and typically we will look at the following: 

Safety critical work

ROGS includes provisions for the management of safety critical workers’ competence, fitness and fatigue. Safety critical tasks must be carried out by a competent person.

Safety verification

The safety management system will need to include details of how safety verification will be managed by the dutyholder.

Safety certification

For mainline railways, the safety certificate will be according to a European harmonised format.

Interoperability

Work on high speed lines is assessed by us under the Interoperability Regulations 2006.

General safety management system arrangements

We have developed a tool which will aid our judgement on the capability of dutyholders' health and safety management systems. The tool is known as the Railway Management Maturity Model (RM3) ( PDF 413 Kb).

What happens after an inspection?

After we have conducted an inspection, if appropriate we provide advice and information in order for those being inspected to meet ROGS regulations.

If we feel it is necessary, for example if we feel that there is a risk that isn’t being managed appropriately, we can use our enforcement  powers.

Last updated: 25 March 2011

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