Safety

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“We will run a safe railway, abiding by all rules and regulations and continuously working to improve both operational and personal safety and security.”

Safety is our highest priority. Morally and financially, safety makes good business sense. As a transport company, safety has to be implicit in everything we do. Our passengers, our stakeholders and our employees must all trust us in this area or they will not travel with us, invest in us, or work for us.

With an increasing compensation culture we must not only be safe but be able to demonstrate that safety is at the core of everything we do and that we constantly strive to reduce risk. Our commitment to safety has twice won us the Sir Robert Horton Safety Award at the National Rail Awards.

As a train operator South West Trains has a safety certificate which allows it to operate. Our submission for this certificate is currently being used by other train operators as a template document.

Safety is one our key business objectives with targets and key performance indicators laid out in our annual Safety and Environment Plan, with progress monitored daily by our Head of Safety and on a monthly basis at the Board Safety Sub-Committee which is presided over by the Executive Chairman.

The approach to safety management is based on the principles contained within “Successful health and safety management” and follows the five elements: policy, organisation, planning and implementing, monitoring performance and audit and review.

Safety plan – South West Trains recognises that the safety and security of its customers and employees is paramount to the success of the business. It has achieved high standards through the rigorous application of our safety management system and its security strategy, where South West Trains is recognised as a leader in the field.

The training of managers and employees in their safety roles is a key feature of our safety and security strategy. Over the last 12 months workforce lost time accidents have reduced by 1.5%.

Training – South West Trains has developed a new safety training programme for managers and trade union health and safety representatives.

Security – the railways have long had to function against the threat of terrorism, but in recent years that threat has once again come to the fore. South West Trains works closely with both the British Transport Police and other local police forces to ensure the safety of our passengers and staff, participating in both the National Railway Security Programme and more locally the London South Railway Crime Tasking Group.

We also conform to Transec (Transport Security Directorate) standards and react to their “alert levels”. Our Managing Director and our Crime and Security Manager also participate in the DfT’s Railway Security Council, while our network has helped host trials of “anti-tank” style barriers at Waterloo and Operation Shield metal detectors at stations such as Portsmouth and Guildford.

In addition to our TravelSafe officers, who patrol our network deterring troublemakers and reassuring passengers, South West Trains also encourages and funds staff to work part-time as Special Constables.

On top of our annual payment to the British Transport Police, South West Trains also funds five full-time and one part-time police officer to co-ordinate our TravelSafe officers.

Staff are all trained in “hot” procedures in respect of suspect packages and regulations are in place in relation to station and depot security.

Fatigue – South West Trains is currently reviewing its arrangements for employees undertaking safety critical tasks to reflect the requirements of the new regulations scheduled to replace the former Hidden arrangements this October.

The new regulations recognise that fatigue is influenced by hours, work patterns, working environment, nature of task, travelling time and social and domestic factors. The regulations state that no safety critical worker should be allowed to work when so fatigued as to affect their health safety or that of others on the transport system.

A South West Trains working group is currently assessing the new regulations and developing a company procedure that sets out the method of the ongoing arrangements for managing fatigue, in line with ORR’s good practice guidance.

Operational reduction and mitigations group – this is a joint workshop between Network Rail and South West Trains. Held every eight weeks, the workshops look at operational incidents such as signals passed at danger or level crossing incidents. The purpose of the meeting is to get the two agencies around the same table and discuss how each incident has affected the running of the railway and what can be done in the future to prevent similar incidents occurring.

Crumple zones – the new Desiro trains, which represent over half the South West Trains’ fleet all have in built crumple zones designed to absorb impact in the event of a collision, much the same as modern cars.

Personal Security Groups (PSG) – the company has an overall strategic PSG, with local ones across the network. These bring together South West Trains' employees from across the functions with British Transport Police and, at local level, local authorities and crime reduction officers. They look at ways of reducing crime and antisocial behaviour on trains and at stations, using a community partnership approach.

Dealing with conflict – our employees have to work in a busy environment where tempers can often be frayed. Conflict avoidance training teaches them how to calm people down and to turn a situation around. We have a strict no touch policy. We do not tolerate our employees being assaulted and will pursue cases through the courts.

Over the last 12 months physical assaults on staff have reduced by 10.7%.

CCTV investment – we have more than 4,000 CCTV cameras at stations and on trains. These provide the police and courts with vital evidence when pursuing criminal cases. They also reassure our passengers and employees when going about their business on our network.

TravelSafe Officers – this scheme was groundbreaking when it was introduced in 2002, and many others have since followed our lead, providing a reassuring presence for our passengers and enforcing railway byelaws. We now have 46 officers across our network.

Improved lighting – good lighting and well-maintained foliage make stations look more welcoming. We have introduced daylight lighting at Basingstoke station, and Network Rail has invested £1 million on lighting improvements at Clapham Junction.

Secure Stations – South West Trains has 51 Secure Stations the highest of any train company. Each has to pass rigorous judging criteria including a passenger survey asking them how safe they feel, and looking at low crime rates.

Ciras reporting line – the 'confidential incident reporting and analysis system' is a way for frontline railway employees to report safety concerns that they feel unable to report through normal company channels. It offers a completely independent and confidential way for employees to report those concerns without fear of recrimination. It helps identify potentially dangerous practices, procedures, situations or incidents.