RISK MANAGEMENT AND ASSESSMENT FOR ROLLING STOCK SAFETY CASES

Since the introduction of the Railway (Safety Case) Regulations in 199 4 the railway industry has gone through a steep learning curve as the new safety culture has become established. A key question for any safe ty case is 'how safe is safe enough' since it is never possible to eli minate all risk. To answer this question it is necessary to establish risk or safety targets and then demonstrate compliance with them. Base d on his experience preparing the Heathrow Express rolling stock safet y case for Siemens, the author describes the stages of establishing th e safety targets and demonstrating compliance with them. The criteria by which individual risks, rather than the train's overall safety perf ormance, are judged is also considered. Finally the merits of this app roach compared to the risk matrix adopted by Railtrack, and currently being reviewed, is discussed.