Risky Business Making Sense of SFAIRP and Assurance

Risky Business Making Sense of SFAIRP and Assurance in the Rail Industry Presentation to the DG Safety Forum, 17 October 2017 Steve Bickley

WHAT’S IN A TITLE? Risky Business | Making Sense of SFAIRP and Assurance in the Rail Industry q SFAIRP – The Duty to Ensure Safety So Far As Is Reasonably Practicable q Assurance – The role of safety assurance, including through the use of a safety case q Risky Business – a 1983 movie with Tom Cruise Risky Business | Presentation to the DG Safety Forum, October 2017

AGENDA q The Law (& the rail one) q SFAIRP & Assurance q Risky Myths q Some Tips Please remember this bit Risky Business | Presentation to the DG Safety Forum, October 2017

The Law Risky Business | Presentation to the DG Safety Forum, October 2017

THE LAWS q Rail Safety National Law & Dangerous Goods Safety Act q Both apply q Memorandum of Understanding (but be wary) q Parallels between Rail Safety and DG legislation Risky Business | Presentation to the DG Safety Forum, October 2017

THE LAWS (2) Dangerous Goods Safety Act Rail Safety National Law Risky Business | Presentation to the DG Safety Forum, October 2017

THE LAWS (3) - SIMILARITIES Dangerous Goods Safety Act Rail Safety National Law Risky Business | Presentation to the DG Safety Forum, October 2017

THE LAWS (4) q This is not legal advice, you must be wary of the differences q The point is that there can be similarities between legislation and you don’t need to re-invent two completely different approaches to the same safety issue q However, the focus should not be on the law (more about this later…) Risky Business | Presentation to the DG Safety Forum, October 2017

SFAIRP & Assurance Risky Business | Presentation to the DG Safety Forum, October 2017

SFAIRP & ASSURANCE q November 1947: Joseph Edwards killed by a fall of material in Marine colliery, Wales q The National Coal Board successfully argued that they had discharged their duties under the Coal Mines Act 1911 But q March 1949: The case made its way to the Court of Appeal q The Court of Appeal defined what "reasonably practicable" was q The Court of Appeal overturned the judgement, awarding damages to Edwards' widow Risky Business | Presentation to the DG Safety Forum, October 2017

SFAIRP & ASSURANCE (2) "Reasonably practicable" is a narrower term than "physically possible" and seems to me to imply that a computation must be made by the owner, in which the quantum of risk is placed on one scale and the sacrifice involved in the measures necessary for averting the risk (whether in money, time or trouble) is placed in the other; and that if it be shown that there is a gross disproportion between them - the risk being insignificant in relation to the sacrifice - the defendants discharge the onus on them. It is true to say that if the National Coal Board have to make secure the roofs and sides of every travelling road a heavy burden will be placed upon them…In the present case, the time, trouble and expense involved must be examined in relation to the road on which the fall took place. The owners had taken steps to secure the sides along one half of its length approximately. I see no reason why the whole length could not have been similarly secured as and when the road was being made. Lord Justices Asquith & Singleton, Court of Appeal, Edwards v. National Coal Board Risky Business | Presentation to the DG Safety Forum, October 2017

SFAIRP & ASSURANCE (3) Risky Business | Presentation to the DG Safety Forum, October 2017

SFAIRP & ASSURANCE (4) Assurance: A positive declaration intended to give confidence; a promise. Oxforddictionaries. com q Safety Cases are a vehicle for providing assurance around safety (known by many names) q A documented body of “evidence of safety” q Being SFAIRP is important but it’s pretty well useless if you cannot SHOW you are SFAIRP Risky Business | Presentation to the DG Safety Forum, October 2017

SFAIRP & ASSURANCE (5) Guidance: q ONRSR Major Projects Guidelines q RISSB Safe Decisions q CENELEC EN 50126/8/9 q i. ESM – international handbook on Engineering Safety Management (disclosure: I worked on three of the above) Risky Business | Presentation to the DG Safety Forum, October 2017

Risky Myths Risky Business | Presentation to the DG Safety Forum, October 2017

RISKY MYTHS q Some myths perpetuate in industry q This can lead to misunderstanding, confusion and non-compliance q Here are three which keep doing the rounds Risky Business | Presentation to the DG Safety Forum, October 2017

MYTH 1: ‘BROADLY ACCEPTABLE’ ISN’T BROADLY ACCEPTABLE Increasing Risk Unacceptable Region ALARP or Tolerability Region Broadly Acceptable Region Risky Business | Presentation to the DG Safety Forum, October 2017

MYTH 1: ‘BROADLY ACCEPTABLE’ ISN’T BROADLY ACCEPTABLE (2) q Commonly depicted on a risk matrix as the broadly acceptable (green) region q Sometimes the organization’s criteria for ‘green’ risks is ‘do nothing’ q You can’t escape the SFAIRP test with a risk matrix! q No matter the size of the risk you need to implement controls which are reasonably practicable (but you can be risk-based…) Risky Business | Presentation to the DG Safety Forum, October 2017

MYTH 2: SFAIRP vs. ALARP = As Low As Reasonably Practicable SFAIRP = So Far As Is Reasonably Practicable q Debate on whether ALARP and SFAIRP are the same has raged for a long time q SFAIRP: Model WHS Act, Rail Safety National Law q ALARP: Commonwealth Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage (Safety) Regulations 2009; SA/SNZ HB 436: 2013 - Risk Management guidelines q Key is the focus on doing what is “reasonably practicable” The ONRSR considers that those duties to ensure safety SFAIRP and the ALARP framework generally both call for the same tests to be applied. ONRSR Guideline | Meaning of Duty to Ensure Safety SFAIRP Risky Business | Presentation to the DG Safety Forum, October 2017

MYTH 3: TOO MUCH FOCUS ON THE LAW Too much focus on compliance over safety: q The first safety objective of any organization should be to be safe q The second objective should be on showing confirming this approach is compliant Risky Business | Presentation to the DG Safety Forum, October 2017

Top Tips Risky Business | Presentation to the DG Safety Forum, October 2017

TOP TIPS q 5 tips to help with SFAIRP & Assurance: 1. Be really clear on the scope of what is being assessed & identify hazards accordingly 2. Focus on building your ‘evidence of safety’ no matter the scale or complexity 3. Be risk-based: – Means to prioritise effort in determining SFAIRP & Assurance – Greater risk = more attention and more effort to build evidence of safety – Consider size of risk, consequence, uncertainty 4. Use the guidance that is available 5. Seek help – this includes from the regulator(s)! Risky Business | Presentation to the DG Safety Forum, October 2017

Thank You steve. bickley@consultarc. com