HEALTH AND SAFETY FIRST

RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: april 2019 :: RMTnews 12 Guest speakers kicked off conference with a presentation from Maria Christina Marzola, vice president of the ETF rail section, who spoke about the impact of digitalisation which touched on new roles, jobs disappearing, jobs changing and the associated aspects that unions should consider, such as the changing concept of work and the potential for social- dumping. Ian Prosser, ORR HM Chief Inspector of Railways, spoke about the ten years he has had in his role and his vision, which is for zero fatalities and an ever-decreasing risk to passengers, the workforce and the public. He explained how to measure this by using the RM3 model for over eight years and how it is now being upgraded for a re- launch this month. RM3 is a 24- point model that measures the strength of health and safety management and risk control and the importance of having an ongoing conversation about what the strengths and weaknesses are. Mr Prosser spoke about the value of learning lessons and striving for fewer incidents and continuing improvements and his work in promoting the Million-Hour-Challenge which is an initiative within the rail industry that works together with the Samaritans to reduce suicide. During a Q&A session with the speakers, Mr Prosser announced that the capability of planning needs to be improved and he plans to work with Network Rail and the union to scrap and replace the extremely costly 019 process. He said that he is very keen to work with union representatives to formulate a new plan and to enable it. Conference heard a presentation from Mark Young, an RAIB inspector, who spoke about the rapid growth in the use of automation in the railway, specifically ATO - automatic train operation – and of the benefits, but also the stresses, that these technologies bring and other problems. Conference also enjoyed an entertaining speech from Peter Rayner who talked of his 60 odd HEALTH AND SAFETY FIRST RMT’s national health and safety advisory conference focusses on new technology and automation