South African rail safety "not in a state of decline"

[John Ashworth]

SA RAIL SAFETY NOT IN DECLINE

Railways Africa on August 1, 2011 in South Africa

Official statement by South Africa’s Railway Safety Regulator:

“The Railway Safety Regulator (RSR) has noted with concern, recent media comments stating ‘regulators of railway safety are not always aware of what is happening on the railways.’ It must be made unequivocally clear that the RSR plays a vital oversight role and remains both pro-active and fully aware of the state of rail safety in South Africa. The Regulator would like to give comfort to the public who rely on rail as their main mode of transport, as well as the business sector which conveys freight using this mode, that rail safety is not in a state of decline. There are over 8,000 train movements a day – of which 99.9% are executed safely.

“The RSR notes the concerns expressed by labour in the statement and views them in a serious light. The Regulator has highlighted to Parliament the concerns expressed by labour regarding safety and continues to implement preventative measures, arising from ongoing audits and inspections of operators, as well as post-accident investigations to prevent similar occurrences in future.

“The RSR receives daily incident reports from the two major operators, Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) which is responsible for moving freight and the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa), which deals with commuters and travellers. Daily reports are also received from the smaller operators, which range from small siding owners that use rail for loading and offloading to municipalities, mines and other manufacturing concerns that have extensive rail networks, locomotives and other rolling stock within their ambit.

“Every major rail accident is investigated by the RSR to determine both the immediate and root causes. Appropriate preventive interventions are formulated on the basis of the causes uncovered and corrective measures are communicated to operators.

“The RSR has been fully operational for five years. The rising tempo of safety incidents prior to 2005 was arrested and stabilised after the RSR’s introduction, and has showed a slight decline over the last reporting cycle. Current focus is on high risk areas to further promote this decrease. The two major commuter train incidents which occurred in 2011 thus far in Akasiaboom-Wintersnest in Pretoria and Mzimhlope-Phomolong in Soweto contributed the major part of the figure for injuries quoted for this year, and are out of the norm compared to previous years.

“The Regulator recently launched the Human Factor Management Standard, in partnership with industry and the SABS. The standard addresses human issues including training and testing of employees such as train drivers, with the aim of limiting accidents as a result of human error.

“The RSR will continue to play a key role in the National Rail Crime Combating Forum (NRCCF) wherein issues of crime and security in railways are addressed. The NRCCF consists of stakeholders from all rail operators, the SAPS, Department of Justice and Labour amongst others.

“The Regulator would further like to inform the public of the active role played by the South African Police Service’s Railway Police in the rail sector. The RSR is encouraged by the notable improvements in reducing the levels of crime relating to personal safety in trains and stations. A steady improvement in this regard can be attributed to the ongoing successful roll-out of the SAPS Railway Police.”

RSR MANDATE

Railways Africa on August 1, 2011 in South Africa

The mandate of South Africa’s Railway Safety Regulator (RSR) is to:

• oversee safety in railway transport, while operators remain responsible for managing safety of their operations
• develop an appropriate regulatory framework through the
• development of regulations and standards for safe railway operations
• monitor and ensure safety compliance through the conducting of
• audits, inspections, safety assessments and occurrence investigations
• collect and disseminate information relating to safe railway operations
• promote the harmonisation of the railway safety regime of South Africa with Southern African Development Community (SADC) railway operations and
• promote improved safety performance in order to promote the use of rail.