ARIOPS Railway Occupational Health Conference – York 2 July

ARIOPS Railway Occupational Health Conference – York 2 July A new approach to rail industry medical standards – part 2 Delivery Richard Evans Head of Delivery, Traffic Operation and Management RSSB

ARIOPS Railway Occupational Health Conference – York 2 July Recap – the industry’s Standards Strategy Agreed in 2005 Progressive implementation Industry-driven Defines review criteria

ARIOPS Railway Occupational Health Conference – York 2 July Recap – purpose Align standards managed by RSSB with the European standards framework Simplify and eliminate duplication with UK and EU law Address industry concerns over standards (specially unjustified costs of compliance) Define the boundaries of RSSB’s responsibilities for mandatory GB standards

ARIOPS Railway Occupational Health Conference – York 2 July Recap –core principle Risk controls which are for each duty holder to define and manage under its safety management system should not be in Railway Group Standards Duty holder responsibility includes compliance with the law, eg safety critical work (ROGS 2006 regulations 23 to 26 inclusive) and other HASAW requirements which impose duties on employers

ARIOPS Railway Occupational Health Conference – York 2 July The story so far Railways and Other Guided Transport Systems (Safety) Regulations 2006 (‘ROGS’) came into force in October 06 All the Operations RGS have been ‘filtered’, applying the criteria defined in the Strategy All of the track safety standards including GE/RT8067 were withdrawn wef 7 April 07 (single duty holder – mainly Network Rail)

ARIOPS Railway Occupational Health Conference – York 2 July Medical fitness requirements Most medical fitness requirements failed the test for ‘national mandatory’ standards RSSB offered industry (represented by TOM Standards Committee – TOM SC) options: –withdraw the standards –publish guidance –voluntary standards TOM SC opted for guidance

ARIOPS Railway Occupational Health Conference – York 2 July Publications –Diabetes: general good practice guide for employers (June 07) –Diabetes: specialist guidance for medical assessors (June 07) –Colour vision (June 07) –Laser eye surgery (published in August 05)

ARIOPS Railway Occupational Health Conference – York 2 July The year ahead – operations standards GO/RT3251 Train Driving will be withdrawn in 2008 except for: colour vision minimum eyesight minimum hearing minimum age (21) GO/RT3255 Train Working will be withdrawn in 2008 except for: colour vision minimum eyesight minimum age (18) Likely to be one document, reflecting the TSI (EU) structure

ARIOPS Railway Occupational Health Conference – York 2 July Other documents GE/RT8070 Drugs and Alcohol is likely to be reissued in 2008 as a Rail Industry Standard with some national mandatory requirements and guidance Guidance will be published on visual acuity and eyesight correction (‘varifocals’ etc) Other material will follow research projects

ARIOPS Railway Occupational Health Conference – York 2 July Research Research will continue into use of hearing aids based on SWT experience Other occupational health research projects are in progress or planned See later presentation

ARIOPS Railway Occupational Health Conference – York 2 July Working with ARIOPS ARIOPS will provide peer review of medical guidance before publication by RSSB (successful with diabetes guidance) RSSB will credit ARIOPS in those documents RSSB will continue to provide administrative support to RMAG as required RSSB looks forward to working with all rail OH professionals through ARIOPS.

ARIOPS Railway Occupational Health Conference – York 2 July ARIOPS and the rail industry Raise the profile Gain wider recognition among industry players as a source of relevant expertise and advice Assess risks not just tick boxes Avoid appearance of being fragmented Represent all rail OH professionals

ARIOPS Railway Occupational Health Conference – York 2 July A new approach to rail industry medical standards – part 2 Questions? Richard Evans

ARIOPS Railway Occupational Health Conference – York 2 July