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Safety Managers Group

The Safety Managers Group (SMG) is a workshop-style forum that meets three times annually, immediately pre-ceding the Rail Safety Consultative Forum (RSCF). The SMG is composed of rail safety managers from key stakeholder ARA member companies, working together in a cooperative way to:

  •  To provide a forum for free and open exchange of ideas and concepts in relation to safety management in the rail context.
  • To provide an opportunity for industry to prepare a common position for the Rail Safety Consultative Forum
  • To facilitate the development of improved industry safety policy and practice with the goal of reducing injury and damage within the Australasian rail networks, including Heritage operations.

The Terms of Reference for the SMG are as follows:

  1. Participate in free and open exchange of ideas and concepts in relation to rail safety issues
  2. Develop Australian rail industry policy position in relation to rail safety policy and practice issues for ARA Executive approval where necessary
  3. Provide leadership within the rail industry in relation to improvement of rail safety policy and practice.
  4. Develop industry policy position in response to RSCF agenda items, including definition of new RSCF agenda items
  5. Establish as appropriate, Working Parties/subcommittees to discuss specific rail-safety related issues to improve industry rail safety practices . Working Parties must develop a report, policy or recommendation to be considered for appropriate action by SMG.
  6. Review policies and initiatives for rail safety being delivered by related institutions internationally and monitor their effectiveness and relevance.
  7. Assist and co-ordinate the sharing of rail safety information within the rail industry in the development and continuous improvement of rail safety.
  8. Exchange and disseminate information on rail safety policies and innovations.

The Safety Managers Group formally interacts with the RISSB Safety Standing Committee, to which it may recommend the intitiation of potential RISSB projects, such standards, codes of practice, guidelines or other works.

Although the SMG is independent of the RISSB, the General Manager RISSB (as chair of the SMG) reports SMG activites to the ARA Executive for information purposes.

Membership of the SMG is open to safety managers from rail industry companies who have a direct key stakeholder interest in rail safety issues.  If you believe your company should have a representative on the SMG, please contact Kevin Taylor, General Manager RISSB via the contact details supplied on the Contact Us page.