The Whistle Board Newsletter – November 2017

MESSAGE FROM THE CEO

Historic Day for RISSB and the Rail Industry

The past six weeks have been a busy, and an historic time for both RISSB and the rail industry.  Last night I was very proud to launch the Australian Rail Risk Model in front of a large audience of industry stakeholders.

In addition to this, RISSB also hosted the inaugural Rail Cyber Security conference in Melbourne in mid-October.  The conference was well attended and achieved its goal of having industry and the cyber security sector come together to discuss the current and emerging issues affecting rail in this area, and to plot a path forward.

November also saw RISSB complete the pilot program for the Harmonisation Guidelines for Railway Vehicle Specifications.  Commencing with bogies and glazing, RISSB, in collaboration with industry and stakeholders, developed guidelines for use when designing rail vehicles for use in Australia.  The results of the pilot are being assessed and RISSB is keen to start development of further guidelines in 2018.

As this edition of Whistle board goes out, AusRail 2017 is commencing just down the road from the RISSB offices. 

I hope everyone has an enjoyable time at AusRail this year, and don’t forget to come and visit RISSB at Stand 301 – we’re right next to the lunch station!!

Paul Daly

Industry Celebrates ARRM Launch

Last night RISSB launched its groundbreaking Australian Rail Risk Model (ARRM) in front of an industry crowd of more than 200.

The event was staged to celebrate the long-awaited release of Australia’s first rail risk model and thank all who contributed to its timely development.

The tool was officially launched by Chair of the RISSB Board, Deb Spring, and ARRM Project Manager, Jesse Baker, at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre.

Among those at the event were Sir Terry Morgan, Chairman of Cross Rail; Danny Broad, CEO of ARA; and Sue McCarrey from ONRSR.

Evening highlights included a an ARRM presentation and a heartfelt keynote speech by RISSB’s General Manager of Safety and Innovation, Jesse Baker.

For those who attended, we’d like to thank you for spending your Monday evening with us. For those who didn’t, visit www.rissb.com.au to learn more about ARRM or attend an ARRM workshop at AusRAIL.

Visit Stand 301 at AusRAIL

Come and visit the friendly RISSB team at this year’s AusRAIL exhibition. We’re debuting our new corporate videos, giving away a treat with a safety twist and discussing our plans for a cyber secure future. Staff will be on hand to answer your questions about ARRM, memberships, accredited Australian Standards, consultations and Development Group nominations.

AusRAIL ARRM Workshops

Book yourself into an ARRM workshop facilitated by Jesse Baker.

Days          Wednesday, 22 November 2017

Times        11:30 – 12:30pm and 3:30pm – 4:30pm

Location  Meeting Room M6, Level 2, Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre

Seating is limited to 24 seats per session.

2017 Rail Cyber Security Conference

Infrastructure damage, threats to safety, and ransomware, were all under the spotlight when tech experts from across the nation gathered in Melbourne for RISSB’s inaugural Rail Cyber Security Conference. 

The conference was aimed at providing the latest in cyber security industry information and research to an audience predominantly from the Australian and New Zealand rail sector.

Held in October, the conference attracted more than 80 delegates - a broad cross section of the rail industry - and delivered some hard-won lessons learned for the benefit of all attendees.

Due to the success of the 2017 conference, plans are already underway to find a new location and confirm speakers for Rail Cyber Security 2018. 

Have your say on AS7770 Rail Cyber Security

AS7770 Rail Cyber Security is now available for an 8-week public consultation.

To access the draft, please download it from here:

AS 7770 Rail Cyber Security

To make comments on the draft, please use the commenting tools in Adobe Acrobat or Acrobat Reader to comment in-line with the text. Please return your PDF with comments to revans@rissb.com.au by COB 22nd December 2017.

Meet the Team

This month we welcomed two new employees to the RISSB team – James Campbell and Andrew Hardiman.

James Campbell

James has more than 10 years’ experience in the rail sector. After a little more than seven years driving trains, James spent time working in driver training and operational safety before turning his attention to project and business integration. James has spent time managing operational safety incidents and investigations, developing train driver competency frameworks, and most recently has worked on Melbourne's new High Capacity Metro Train and Metro Tunnel projects.

Andrew Hardiman

Andrew has more than 13 years’ experience in the rail industry. Starting his electrical apprenticeship with Queensland Rail, he progressed his way up into rolling stock management positions in Aurizon and Downer EDI where he contributed to: rolling stock overhaul and maintenance programs, rolling stock recovery and investigation, testing and commissioning, operational and maintenance safety strategies and rolling stock reliability programs. Andrew most recently worked as one of Bombardier’s technical specialists on the QRNG project.

Member Spotlight

Last week we reached a milestone with the Marling Group becoming the fiftieth organisation to join RISS under a corporate membership. Congratulations to Marling Group Director, Dr Garry Marling.

Whistleboard Reader Survey

We value your opinion and would love to hear what you think of Whistleboard, so we're inviting you to tell us in a short online survey. We'd like to know how informative is Whistleboard and what sort of information you'd like to see in future editions.

Rest assured that survey participation is completely voluntary and anything you tell us will remain confidential. The survey will remain open until 31 November 2017.

Interested? Start the survey.

Save the Date – RISSB’s 2018 Safety Conference

RISSB’s Safety Conference will be back bigger, bolder and better than ever next year.

Save 9 – 10 May 2018 for RISSB’s Safety Conference at Rydges Town Square in Sydney.

Conference details will be released in the new year.

Join the Conversation

Follow RISSB on Twitter - @TheRISSB

Connect with us on LinkedIn - Rail Industry Safety and Standards Board (Australia)