Health and safety regulation

The Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) is the national health and safety authority for Britain's railways.

Find out more about:

• Health and safety reporting
• Health and Safety Report 2012
• Accident and incident investigation
• Regulation and certification
• Inspections and audits
• Enforcement of health and safety legislation
• Safety guidance and research
• Key safety topics
• Occupational health
• Railway Industry Health and Safety Advisory Committee

Health and safety reporting

ORR has an online tool for the reporting of RIDDOR (the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995) reportable incidents. This is an easy to use form that is very similar to, and replaces, the old F2508RA and F2508RB forms. The online form enables reporters of RIDDOR reportable incidents to enter all the details through our website and therefore does not require forms to be mailed, faxed and emailed.

• Online RIDDOR form 
• Step by step guidance on using the online RIDDOR form ( 220 Kb).

Please use the above form also for reporting occupational ill health incidents on the railway. Further information on what needs to be reported is under Reporting cases of occupational ill health.

Monthly reporting of dangerous occurrences is unchanged and you should continue to use the form below for this.

• Monthly report of dangerous occurrences ( 89 Kb).

If you have any questions regarding the form, or need to discuss reporting to the ORR in general please contact 020 7282 3910.

• Reporting of serious incidents to ORR ( 58 Kb).

Accident and incident investigation

Our inspectorate investigates breaches of health and safety legislation on the railways. This section contains details of recent major rail incidents and provides detail on how to report serious incidents to us.

Regulation and certification

The Railways and Other Guided Transport Systems (Safety) Regulations 2006 (ROGS) contain much of the safety regulation for railways and other guided transport modes. They also update the legal requirements for the management of safety critical work.

• ROGS – Provides an overview of the new legislation
  • Impact of ROGS
  • Dispute resolution
  • Safety critical tasks
  • Entities in charge of maintenance
  • Safety verification
  • Safety certificates and authorisation
• Safety approvals – how ORR will process applications for safety-related approvals required under Transport and Works Act Orders, Light Railway Act Orders and Private Acts of Parliament.
• Transition to ROGS – The transition period leading up to when ROGS was implemented.
• Safety Directive – Details about the initiative to have standard practices across Europe
• Interoperability – A European initiative to promote a single market in the rail sector by removing the technical problems involved in running trains between member states.
• Train driving licences and certificates – On 6 April 2010 the Train Driving Licences and Certificates Regulations 2010 came into force. This brings the requirement to hold a licence and certificate to drive a train into force between now and 2018.
• Rail vehicle accessibility – On 6 April 2010 the Rail Vehicle Accessibility (Non-Interoperable Rail System) Regulations 2010 came into force giving ORR new responsibilities for monitoring and enforcing compliance with regulations designed to improve accessibility for rail passengers.

Inspections and audits

We conduct inspections and audits to check that the rail industry has the management systems in place effectively controlling health and safety risks. We also target risk areas of particular concern under ‘mandatory inspection programmes’.

Enforcement of health and safety legislation

Our policy is to aim for firm but fair enforcement of health and safety law. Issuing enforcement notices and prosecuting duty holders are some of a range of tools at our disposal.

Safety guidance and research

We provide on-site and written advice and guidance on how to comply with the law.

• Railway Safety Publications - railway inspectors seek to secure compliance with the law and may refer to these publications as illustrating good practice.
• Risk management – here you can find documents providing high level guidance and general principles on the application of risk assessment
• Rail safety research – contains research, outcomes and recommendations published after major incidents.
• Internal guidance – here you will find a list of rail guidance documents used by ORR Inspectors.
• Tramway technical guidance

Key Safety topics

Our operational policy and strategic aims are contained in a number of key safety topics.

• Worker safety – information specific to the safety of rail workers.
• Infrastructure safety – safety information connected with infrastructure such as signals passed at danger (SPADs), stations, rolling stock and level crossings.
• Risk profile topic strategies – on a number of key safety issues we have identified which affect the industry.

Occupational health - Moving the health agenda forward

Our strategic aim is for occupational health management in the railway industry to reflect good practice. Our health programme has been developed to help the industry tackle health issues.

Railway Industry Health and Safety Advisory Committee

This committee has wide representation and includes all stakeholders from the rail industry which provides us with information about safety.

Railway Safety (Miscellaneous Provisions) Regulations 1997

The Railway Safety (Miscellaneous Provisions) Regulations 1997 (the regulations) are currently under review as part of the Red Tape Challenge.

Railway Safety Regulations 1999

The Railway Safety Regulations 1999 are currently under review as part of the Red Tape Challenge.

Last updated: March 2013

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