New safety regulations for railways

10 April 2006
ORR/10/06

New safety regulations for railways

New safety Regulations for railways in Great Britain, the “Railways and Other Guided Transport Systems (Safety) Regulations 2006” (known as ROGS) come into force today.  The ROGS Regulations have been introduced to:

• implement the EC Railway Safety Directive: requiring mainline railway operators and infrastructure managers to maintain a Safety Management System (SMS) and have it accepted by the railway safety authority through a certification process;
• replace the Railway Safety Case Regulations 2000: with continuing national provisions that apply similar principles for a SMS to other railways and transport systems, adapted to reflect the nature and extent of those operations;
• replace the Railways and Other Transport Systems (Approval of Works, Plant and Equipment) Regulations 1994 (ROTS): with a new proportionate process of safety verification to control the risks arising from the introduction of new/altered vehicles and infrastructure; and
• replace the Safety Critical Work Regulations 1994 (SCWR): and implement new requirements on the management of fatigue of safety critical workers (arising from recommendations from Lord Cullen’s inquiry into the collision at Ladbroke Grove).                                                                                                                   

Bill Emery, ORR Chief Executive, said:

“On behalf of ORR, I would like to thank the Health and Safety Commission and Health and Safety Executive for effectively delivering the new ROGS Regulations. These Regulations simplify and consolidate the legislative framework for railway safety; reduce bureaucracy for railway duty-holders in line with the principles of Better Regulation; and most importantly, provide continued public assurance that railway safety will be properly regulated in an effective and proportionate way.”

The ROGS Regulations were developed by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and endorsed by the Health and Safety Commission (HSC) in February 2006, as part of HSC’s regulatory reform project for railways.

Responsibility for regulating safety on the railways transferred from HSE to the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) on 1 April 2006 (see ORR Press Release ORR 09/06).  Her Majesty’s Railway Inspectorate (HMRI) will enforce the new Regulations as part of ORR’s new role as the integrated rail safety and economic regulator.

Notes for editors

1. The new ROGS Regulations can be accessed from the Office of Public Sector Information (OPSI) website at: http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2006/uksi_20060599_en.pdf
2. Further information on ROGS can be obtained from the regulation and certification web page (see related links).
3. The ROGS Regulations come into force on 10 April 2006. The Regulations include transitional provisions to help railway duty-holders smoothly adopt the new regime. More detail can be found by referring to the (interpretative) guidance to the Regulations, which can be obtained from the document in related links.
4. The Railways Act 2005 transferred policy responsibility for health and safety regulation for railway activities from the Health and Safety Commission/Executive (HSC/E) to ORR on 1 April 2006. Regulations transferring enforcement responsibilities came into effect on the same day.
   ORR is now the combined health and safety and economic regulator for the railway industry. The ORR head office is at One Kemble Street, London WC2B 4AN, telephone 020 7282 2000.  e-mail follows the protocol firstname.secondname@orr.gsi.gov.uk.

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