Safety Law and Management 1

Safety Law and Management

Name
The Name of the Class
Professor
University
The City and State
Date

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Introduction
Auditing is an autonomous, objective reassurance and accessing activity intended to
improve and add value to an institutions operations. In conveying an orderly, methodical
approach to appraise and advance the risk management effectiveness, governance, and control
processes, auditing helps an institution to realise its aims. Audits offer impartial views and
valuations of company archives, procedures and measures. Passengers, clients and staff might
revise safety audit reports to acquire material about a rail businesss safety standing before
engaging it. Companies thinking or interested in collaborations with the business are often
interested in finding out how the company conducts commerce and can garner evidence from the
company safety audit.
It is in 1900 that constitutional audits, directed by legal provisions, became compulsory
for businesses. At that time, the reason for an audit remained to identify fraud, procedural errors,
and faults in standard. Nevertheless, case law identifies that it is irrational to suppose auditors to
discover all pieces of fraud, even where they apply reasonable care and skill, thus not a principal
purpose anymore. The auditing business has pursued broadening its role to include, for example
operational audits, in the prevailing twenty-one years.
a) Outline the role and purpose of the safety audit process and the most efficient way
of undertaking the audit without affecting the everyday operation of the Depot
The 1993 Railways Act that came into force in 1994 privatised the railways. This Act
brought all legislation on rail safety in the structure generated by the 1974 Health and Safety at
Work Act, as amended, and certified by the HSC as the main policy advice provider to Ministers
on issues to do with railway safety. Due to the admission of fresh operators into the rail industry,

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the HSC carried out research and drafted a report on ensuring observation of safety in the day to
day rail operations. The significant recommendation of the report was formation of procedure of
validation for operators of railway where controllers of infrastructure and train facility operators
are mandated to create a Rail Safety Case affirming how they intended to meet the entire
requirements of safety in their day to day operations. Field inspectors help check the actual
everyday performance and management regimes effectiveness as against the goals and
commitments in the safety circumstances.
The day to day areas of operation that a good safety audit covers include; safety and
Health management, Business staff competency and human disaster, administration of change,
level crossings, safety of the interface system, safety of infrastructure asset, management of
rolling-stock asset, safety of workforce, work-related health.
The purpose of the safety audit process includes ensuring safety for both the employees
and passengers. This is achieved through the assessment of risk. The aim is to assist
administration and workers in the actual discharge of responsibilities. Safety audits entail
assessments of quantified risk, customer risk, workplace risk and asset based. An environment
audit facilitates executive regulation of environmental practices. It helps the company evaluate
compliance with legislation on environmental, exterior and interior rules. In company-public
safety auditing, the company appreciates the range and goals affected by requirements and
interests of third party businesses. Precise necessities, applicable regulations, orders, or
governmental directions might shake the safety audit obligation.
The safety auditing process role is to help institutions achieve integrity, and
accountability, advance operations, and drill confidence among populations and employees by

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availing unbiased, impartial assessments of whether company resources are utilized
conscientiously and efficiently to provide a secure working environment. Safety audits are a
central means of instituting the compliance level with requirements. Internal audits maintain
technical and safety audit sequencers to deliver assurance that the company risks on safety and
health are actually controlled and that technical and safety assurance preparations are effectively
working. The role of the safety auditing process is to back the authority responsibilities of
insight, oversight, and foresight. Oversight covers whether company departments or divisions are
performing what they are supposed to precisely carryout and functions to identify and deter
corruption. Insight supports the management by availing an independent valuation of company
programs, strategies, procedures, and outcomes. Foresight categorizes trends and developing
contests. Auditors often use tools like commercial audits, routine audits, surveys, and
consultative services to realize these roles respectively.
A safety audit is a requirement under the 2006 Railways & Other Guided Transport
Systems (Safety) Regulations for any independent railway operator to acquire a Safety
Certificate and or operate. The regulations outline the measures a company has to put in place
for; the safe operations of the trains, comprising of passengers interface with and trains
maintenance on the head railway, station safe action on the main railway, the general Safety
Management System with which such measures are supervised and managed. Some of safety
audits include the Systems audit that generally contains an appraisal of the safety management
system and such other activities to confirm compliance.
Compliance inspections are directed regulatory investigations of a particular rail safety
aspect or specific safety management system scope. Before they come to audit, such safety
auditors discuss with concerned accredited railway the audit scope. Often, the worksheet of the

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questions to the audit is provided to enable railway accredited to prepare and collect their
compliance evidence with such reviewed elements. Such evidence to be delivered can comprise
of Safety Management System extracts relevant to accredited railway or such records and forms
demonstrating compliance. The rational for audits is to approve the credited railway endures
management of risks related to their operations scope
The utmost efficient manner of carrying out an audit minus affecting the everyday
operation of the Depot is rotational verification and testing. It is important that, as the auditor,
you should organize adequately for the work. A safety audit planning is vital for audit
performance and positive achievement. Planning assures an effective audit decision; achievement
of an objective audit; proper control and direction of audit at the entire stages; non-omission of
serious and risk engagement areas but sufficiently expeditious and economic completion of the
audit work. Planning involves review of preceding years operational papers.
Rotational verification and testing helps track changes in auditing standards and
legislation. There must be a review before engagement of such laws whether companies or
national, to ascertain their impact on the actions or reporting necessities of the initiative. Risks
are assessed using Office of Rail and Road Guidance and Codes of Practice standards,
instructions on the intranet centred management system, and United Kingdom health and safety
executive standards to ensure that best practice is employed. There must be consideration of
deadlines set for the staff submissions, the safety audit report and certification.
b) Critically analyse the key legislation that applies to the activities identified above
bringing to the management teams attention their key responsibilities under the
legislation.

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Providing for dependable and revealing reporting backs to safety audit commitment. It
contains the execution of global auditing canons. It also entails an on-going exchange of ideas
with UK customers, European Union or global regulators on procedures to boost safety
steadiness. Areas of safety concern and regulation include train, signal, station, emergency and
degraded operations
The 2006 Railways and Other Guided Transport Systems (Safety Regulations) introduced
in April 2006, across the industry is key legislation in the UK, and applies to the activities
identified above (orr.gov.uk, 2016). The latest changes to the legislation were in 2013. The
Regulations implement the 2004/49/EC European Railway Safety Directive that intend to create
a common attitude to rail security and back the progress of a single marketplace for rail carriage
amenities in Europe. The Office of Rail and Road often issues a safety certificate indicating that
they have checked, audited and approved the safety management system and so the company
have the permission to operate.
An inspection plan detailing the themes for inspection over a legitimate period of the
certificate or authorization is arranged continuously. The inspection plan features compulsory
topics for assessment, concerns arising from the inspection of the safety authorization or
certificate application and throughout its progress over a period. It also focuses on activities
arising from preceding inspections, investigations, and commendations from the Rail Safety and
Standards Board as a Railway Industry Supplier Approval Body and other auditing bodies
The unvarying inspection actions allow the Office of Road and Rail to check obedience
with supplementary specific laws, such as laws relating to operating at height, building, and

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project management. The office focuses on making unquestionable that safety and health risks
are orderly, as far as is practically practicable depending on legislation.
The main aim of the 2010 Transport (Rail Safety) Act is to regulate efficiency and
guarantee railway safety throughout UK. A key factor of the rail safety regulators role is to
carryout audits to evaluate rails safety responsibilities and duties compliance; and observance of
safety administration systems and additional accreditation aspects. The various inspections or
audit types are carried out on the accredited railways operations or supplementary organizations
with statutory rail safety responsibilities. The managing director of the private railway operator
holds the main accountability for the companys activities safety under the Safety Authorisation
and Safety Certificate. The Railways & Other Guided Transport Systems (Safety) Regulations
document the manner in which to discharge such accountability.
In conclusion, a collective set of reassurance principles guide planning and drafting a
safety audit to include; proportionality, Risk based planning, Independence, Competence,
Engagement planning, Documentation of evidence, Reporting, Action where every remedial
action rising out of assurance actions must be demarcated by the answerable manager, Follow
up, Spreading good practice, and Quality control which involves assurance suppliers having
appropriate procedures in place to evaluate the quality of such work to guarantee maintenance of
appropriate standards. At all appropriate recesses, a safety audit must comprise of an external
review process.

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References
orr.gov.uk, (2016). The Railways and Other Guided Transport Systems (Safety) Regulations
2006 (as amended). 3rd ed. [ebook] UK: the Office of Rail Regulation, pp.1-68. Available
at: http://orr.gov.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0020/2567/rogs-guidance.pdf [Accessed 22
Oct. 2016].