PUBLICATIONS 

AS 1085.12 Insulated Joint Assemblies Update

The current Standard has been reviewed by the Development Group, with over 50 changes recommended to improve its quality. Key themes include the consideration of sustainable materials and updating some of the specifications to reflect changes in design and manufacturing processes.

AS 7504.2 Disc Brakes And Pads Update

The Development Group recently met to complete the draft of this new Standard. The draft is being prepared to go to independent review and public consultation in August at which time RISSB will invite comments from stakeholders and the public.

INDUSTRY CONNECTIONS

RISSB Attends ARTC Operators Forum

RISSB recently attended the ARTC Operators Forum held in Melbourne. This was an excellent opportunity to meet with ARTC representatives and rail operators to hear about the latest projects being undertaken by ARTC, and how RISSB's suite of Standards, Codes of Practice, and Guidelines can support these projects.

Standards Development Manager, Cris Fitzhardinge, presented on some of the latest publications developed by RISSB and how they could continue to drive harmonisation and interoperability across the Australian rail network.

New RISSB Member

Congratulations to J.Y.W Consulting for officially becoming a RISSB member this week.

J.Y.W Consulting provides management consulting, commercial/procurement, asset management, operations management and project management services to the land transport industry.

jywconsulting.com.au

EVENTS AND PROGRAMS

Professor Graham Currie 2nd August Webinar 

This Tuesday, Graham Currie, Professor of Public Transport at Monash University & Director Public Transport Research Group, will be providing an update on a research program exploring how and why public transport ridership is being influenced by COVID-19, including future ridership forecasts. If you'd like to attend, please click on this link to register.

Next Onboarding Session For Members

The next members only onboarding session will be held at 1PM on Wednesday, 10 August as a Teams meeting.  If you'd like to attend, please send a request to info@rissb.com.au with the words Onboarding August in the subject line.  A meeting link will then be sent to you.

GENERAL NEWS

RISSB Presents At Standards Australia's Standard Development Organisation Forum

On Monday, RISSB was very pleased to join other standards development organisations (SDOs) for Standards Australia’s SDO Forum. This tremendous event provided a wonderful opportunity for accredited standards setters to come together and share learnings, and talk about how they’re maximising the value of their products in their respective industries.

The RISSB presentation certainly showed how big and complex our industry is, how important the railway is to Australia and why RISSB’s role and its Standards are so important.

RISSB CEO Deb Spring said: “It’s great that we can come together face-to-face at Standard’s Australia’s offices in Sydney for this important event in support of continuous improvement.”

RISSB Formalises Arrangement With FRMCG

The Fatigue Risk Management Collaboration Group (FRMCG) was set up initially by fatigue risk advisors working for MTM and Sydney Trains in July 2020 to help improve industry collaboration in managing fatigue-related risks.

 Two years on, it now boasts members in towns and cities across Australia and fatigue risk managers working for major rail operators. The relationship between RISSB and this critical group was formalised this month with RISSB assuming responsibility for meeting facilitation.

About the group

FRMCG is a friendly community of fatigue risk advisors across, who meet bimonthly online to support each other in:

✔ Developing and maintaining fatigue risk management systems and processes that are a part of our Safety Management System

✔ Sharing experiences and discussing the challenges that Australian rail transport operators are facing when it comes to having effective fatigue risk management programs that meet legislative requirements

✔ Learning from each other’s technical expertise and upskilling fatigue risk advisors, so that systems can be better designed and successfully integrated into the rail operational context.

✔ Proposing changes to legislation, standards and guidance to other industry bodies such as ONRSR and RISSB.

 If you would like to join as a fatigue risk advisor, or would like to express interest in presenting as an SME on fatigue-related topics, please send an email to the group via frmrcg@rissb.com.au.

TrackSAFE Rail Safety Week Coming Up

Stand back. Look up. Stay Rail Safe is the message behind this year's Rail Safety Week.  This annual awareness event held from 8-14 August is designed to engage the community in safe rail practices.

More information about this event and how to get involved, can be found on  TrackSAFE Foundation's website.