The Rail Safety and Standards Board Podcast

If you’ve spent any amount of time in the rail industry, you’ll know it’s passenger services that most often grab the headlines. Meanwhile, rail freight takes the role of the ‘unsung hero’, quietly moving billions of pounds worth of goods across the country, contributing significantly to our economy and helping to ease congestion on our roads. But for all its importance, the rail freight sector faces a unique set of challenges—challenges that need to balance the imperative of safe operation with ambitious targets for growth. To better understand the barriers to freight safety and growth in the UK, dedicated research is absolutely key. Joining us for this episode is Luisa Moisio, our Director of Research at RSSB. We explore what’s behind the drive to improve freight safety and growth, how our research can help, and some of the ways our findings are already helping our members move more.

In this episode, we're joined by Tom Lee, our Director of Standards at RSSB. We discuss specific challenges in safety and satisfaction for customers, how we’re helping industry overcome them, and what a renationalised network might mean for those we serve. Find out more at: https://www.rssb.co.uk/our-business-plan

With us for this episode is Rachael Everard, our Director of Sustainable Development at RSSB. We explore some of the sustainability challenges the industry is up against and how we’re planning to help overcome those. We also revisit the Sustainable Rail Blueprint, showcasing some positive member stories from its implementation. Find out more at: https://www.rssb.co.uk/sustainability/

In this episode, we're joined by Chris Knowles, RSSB's Director of System Safety and Health. We’ll explore some specific challenges to rail reliability and resilience, why it’s vital to address them, and some of the solutions that RSSB is offering in this space. Find out more at: https://www.rssb.co.uk/our-business-plan

In this episode, we're joined once again by Johnny Schute, RSSB's Chief Operating Officer. Together, we'll explore what rail needs to be thinking about in terms of driving cost reduction, some of the complexities around investing today for benefits tomorrow, and how we at RSSB are committed to supporting industry in this challenge. Find out more at: https://www.rssb.co.uk/our-business-plan

In this episode, we're joined once again by Vaibhav Puri, RSSB's Director of Sector Strategy and Transformation. Together, we'll explore some of the issues inherent in the adoption and implementation of new technology, our initiatives in this area, and some of the most promising new technological advancements. Find out more at: https://www.rssb.co.uk/our-business-plan

In this episode, we're joined by Andrea Rossi. Andrea is the CEO of DB Cargo UK and a non-executive director on the RSSB Board. Together, we'll explore the current rail freight landscape, what the future might hold for the sector, and how RSSB fosters collaboration and innovation to ensure continued safety and growth in this area. Find out more at: https://www.rssb.co.uk/safety-and-health/freight-safety

In this episode, we're joined by Rich Godwin. Rich is the Chair of industry's Trespass and Suicide Prevention Working Group. He's also a Suicide Prevention Co-ordinator at Network Rail, North West and Central Region. Optimising safety and satisfaction for passengers is vital for both RSSB and Network Rail. So, today, we're discussing how industry has been coming together to drive down numbers of trespass and suicide incidents. Find out more at: https://www.rssb.co.uk/safety-and-health/trespass-and-suicide And have a look at www.railsuicideprevention.co.uk , which is designed to help you make effective and potentially life-saving interventions.

Welcome to our first podcast of 2025! With us today is Stacey Head, our Sustainability Manager. She’ll be speaking with us about some of the initiatives the Sustainable Rail Blueprint has prompted in its first year, how RSSB supports members to embed the Blueprint, and what the future holds for it. Find out more at https://www.rssb.co.uk/sustainability

In this episode, we're delighted to be joined by Mike Brown, Chair of the RSSB Board. He's with us for the final episode of 2024 to round up the year the rail industry has had, discuss the changes it might see in 2025 and beyond -- as well as how to navigate them -- and reflect on what the festive season means for many rail workers. Find out more at https://www.rssb.co.uk Happy holidays. We'll be back in 2025!

This is the third and final episode in our Rail Industry Road Safety Week miniseries. This episode, we're joined by Rik Wenham, an investigator in the Commercial Vehicle Unit of the Metropolitan Police. Rik discusses the important processes of responding to and investigating road traffic accidents, covers how the police work with the parties involved, and shares advice on how best to manage occupational road risk. Content warning: This episode contains mentions of mental ill-health, suicidal ideation, and completing suicide. If you’d like to skip over this discussion, please jump from 02.26 to 04.25 . If you’re affected by this and need support, contact Samaritans on 116 123. Find out more at https://www.rssb.co.uk/managing-occupational-road-risk

This is the second episode in our Rail Industry Road Safety Week miniseries. This episode, we're joined by Jamie Mills, a Section Manager at Network Rail. He speaks with us about his experiences of managing an employee who experienced a road traffic accident in the line of work. Jamie discusses what he did in the immediate aftermath to support the employee and what came next to drive down future risk. Find out more at https://www.rssb.co.uk/managing-occupational-road-risk

This is the first episode in our 2024 Rail Industry Road Safety Week miniseries. In this episode, we're joined by Dave Whelan, a train manager at GB Railfreight and someone who experienced a work-related road traffic accident. Dave speaks with our host, RSSB's Principal Health and Wellbeing Specialist Joana Faustino, about what led to the accident, his life in the aftermath, and what GBRf has done since. Find out more here: https://www.rssb.co.uk/managing-occupational-road-risk

This month, we're speaking with Helen Costello, RSSB's Director of Business Management and Performance. She’ll be speaking with us about the biggest hurdles rail is facing at the moment, some of the solutions that RSSB has developed to help overcome these, and the value they’re generating for industry. Find out more at https://www.rssb.co.uk/strategic-business-plan-2024-29

This month we're joined by Vaibhav Puri, RSSB's Director of Sector Strategy and Transformation, to speak about the value of industry-wide collaboration for the rail sector. As well as the benefits, Vaibhav touches on how RSSB facilitates this collaboration, what 'good' looks like, and some challenges and misconceptions. He also discusses the role that collaboration will play in innovation and creating a strong future for rail. Find out more at https://www.rssb.co.uk/

We're joined this month by Johnny Schute, our Chief Operating Officer. Johnny speaks with us about RSSB's unique whole-system perspective and what that means for the GB rail industry. He touches on the value it generates, the efficiencies it enables, and how it helps us strive for safety while also ensuring cost reduction, revenue growth, and improved service reliability and resilience for our members. Find out more at https://www.rssb.co.uk/our-business-plan

This month we're joined by Marcus Dacre, RSSB’s Head of Risk and Safety Intelligence. He talks with us about the importance of having good quality health and safety data in the rail industry. Marcus also covers the work that got us to this point, what the future holds, and the improvements we're making to SMIS to aid better data capture. He finishes up with a discussion of some standout stats from our 2024 Annual Health and Safety Report. Find out more at rssb.co.uk/risk-and-safety-intelligence

Welcome to another episode of the RSSB podcast! This month we're joined by Dougie Hill, who is Chair of the National Freight Safety Group. He talks about the freight landscape in 2024, what it'll take to safely meet the government's rail freight growth target, and what RSSB is working on to make this happen. Find out more about the NFSG here: www.rssb.co.uk/national-freight-safety-group

Welcome to another episode of the RSSB podcast! This month we're joined by Tracy Orlandi, who is Head of Wellbeing and Occupational Health at East Midlands Railway. She talks about the progress being made in rail employee health and wellbeing, areas where gaps remain, and what it'll take to elevate health to the same level as safety in the rail industry. Correction at 01.23: The RSSB mental health survey was conducted in 2021. For more information on the health workshops Tracy mentioned, contact Clare.Forshaw@rssb.co.uk.

This month we're joined by Thom Rawson, RSSB's Sustainable Rail Principal, to talk through the impact the Sustainable Rail Blueprint has had so far. He also covers how we're helping rail organisations embed it, how we're facilitating industry collaboration on sustainability, and what's next. Find out more at https://www.rssb.co.uk/sustainability/the-sustainable-rail-blueprint