
Keeping Passengers and the Public Safe
Our interactions with the public are vitally important to our industry - whether this is with passengers, young people or our wider communities. There are lots of ideas for bringing rail safety to the fore for this group of people and we thought we would share a few of them here:
- Arrange a visit to a local school to explain the dangers of trespass/playing around the railway (lots of resources available to help with this!)
- Run a campaign at your local railway station explaining the dangers of
unsafe behaviour around the railway - this could be aimed at particular groups of people or everyone! - Arrange an activity or displays at your local station
- Promote the importance of accessibility at your local station providing guidance on how people can seek the assistance they need
- Organise an open day for the public to visit your site
- Run a poster competition for local school children
Activities in the Workplace
For most rail companies the focus during RSW will be their workforce. There are LOTS of things you can consider getting involved with; the list below is not exhaustive but hopefully it will provide you with a few ideas to get started.
- Arrange one or more safety talks or briefings on key topics (e.g. use of machinery, use and maintenance of PPE, hazards of working around electricity, access and working at height, working with chemicals and hazardous substances, protecting yourself when working outdoors, recognising and managing fatigue, alcohol and drug abuse, importance of good housekeeping, fire safety, trackside safety, recognising unsafe behaviour in colleagues and the public or learning points from previous incidents and SPADS)
- Organise a hazard spotting activity
- Organise safety displays on different topics
- Arrange delivery of some safety training for your team - this could be first aid or mental health first aid, something more technical / rail specific or defensive driving techniques
- Managers could lead some safety discussions to generate improvement ideas
- Managers could take part in safety walk rounds or site visits
- Arrange a session on men's health and one on women's health
Think about how you can achieve maximum engagement with your teams - perhaps ask them to develop and deliver some of the activities themselves.
