Competent Person Services
The Background
Following the passing of the Railway and Other Guided Transport Systems (Safety) Regulations 2006 (ROGS) into effective use from 1st October 2006, this note is intended to give a brief overview of the roles and services that CORREL Rail can offer both the Railway Undertaking (RU) and its major subcontractors.
Briefly the new legislation restructures approvals for RUs from being a Safety Case approved by the HMRI requiring 3rd party audits, and specifically 3rd party certification of rolling stock (new and modified), to a Safety Management System (SMS) certificated by ORR, requiring no external auditing and allowing 2nd or 3rd party assessment of safety risks when deemed necessary.
Thus the mandatory nature of the Vehicle Acceptance Body (VAB) has been replaced with a combination of Independent Safety Verification (ISV) [this can still be a VAB] and a dependence upon the RU's own SMS to ensure initial and ongoing compliance to Railway Group Standards and other relevant standards.
What can we offer?
Thus there are a number of roles that CORREL Rail can offer to an RU under these new circumstances.
Where the risk is sufficient (or the modification is determined to be Major) the Railways (Interoperability) Regulations 2006 apply, deemed to meet the requirements under ROGS for Independent Safety verification with a Notified Body compliance assessment and certification. CORREL Rail is a Rolling Stock Notified Body (NoBo) specialist providing full NoBo assessment services.
Where an Independent Competent Person (ICP) assessment is required under ROGS it has been accepted that for Rolling Stock an organisation continuing its VAB accreditation is deemed to have all the relevant technical and assurance competencies to be accepted as an ICP. RSSB will continue to accredit VABs for this purpose and CORREL Rail is committed to maintaining its position as the leading Rolling Stock VAB offering its market leading service under ROGS.
Even where ISV is not required the RU must convince itself (and provide a supporting argument) that it continues to be compliant to RGS irrespective of the changes it makes to its operation and rolling stock. Here CORREL Rail can offer its experience and expertise as a 2nd party providing such assessments, arguments and evidence for the RU. This may happen for various reasons such as skills shortage, outsourcing policy, competency issues, simple resource shortfall or a decision that independent checking, whilst not 'required' brings added value and confidence.
The diagram below shows how the new legislation has replaced mandatory 3rd party certification of rolling stock compliance to standards with either NoBo, ISV or internal assessment, re-enforcing the existing responsibility of RUs to be wholly responsible for their own actions in applying change to the railway.
Clearly this is not a detailed assessment, but CORREL Rail would be pleased to discuss any aspects of the new legislation with RUs, system integrators and manufacturers and how we may assist with the transition or workloads.