Safety guidance
Part of the role of the Office of the Rail Regulation (ORR) is to provide advice and to enforce the relevant health and safety legislation. As well as the provision of on site advice given by HM Railway Inspectorate (HMRI) inspectors there is also written advice and guidance on how to comply with the law. This guidance takes the form of technical information and guidance on the practical steps the railway industry can take to comply with the law.
Compliance with guidance is not mandatory - as it provides advice on how an issue may be addressed. However, it is mandatory to comply with all relevant health and safety legislation.
Railway Safety Publications
Railway safety principles and guidance (RSPG) parts 1 and 2
Parts 1 and 2 of RSPG were produced by HSE for use by organisations wishing to obtain approval for new or altered works, plant and equipment under the Railways and Other Transport Systems (Approval of Works, Plant and Equipment) Regulations 1994 (ROTS). The Railways & Other Guided Transport Systems (Safety) Regulations 2006 (ROGS) revoked ROTS for mainline operators.
However, ROTS was retained according to the transitional provisions in ROGS:
- For mainline operators applications under ROTS were accepted until October 2006 with works due for approval and bringing into use by October 2008. Works not completed at 1 October 2008 will need to be completed under ROGS and managed under the Duty Holder's Safety Management System (SMS) or Safety Verification (SV) arrangements. Duty Holders can elect to transfer works from ROTS to ROGS SV or SMS processes at any point up until October 2008. ORR must be informed of the proposed transfer.
- For tramways and heritage railways the above dates are extended to October 2008 and October 2010 respectively. New heritage and tramway works can continue to be submitted to HMRI under ROTS until 1 October 2008 with anticipated approval and bringing into use under ROTS by 1 October 2010.
Duty holders are reminded that they must be satisfied that they are doing all that is needed under their health and safety duties to control risks.
A full list of the documents is given below with their respective publication dates as downloadable PDFs. Please note that the guidance contained in them represents good practice at the time of publication.
Because ROTS has been revoked for mainline operators, there are no plans to update these documents with the single exception of RSPG Part 2E – Guidance on Level Crossings.
NB Please note in a PDF file originally produced by HSE, the original document follows the introductory page about the transfer to ORR, of health and safety on the railways.
The management of steam locomotive boilers - second edition (2321 Kb)
