The requirements to satisfy the authorities continue to mount and the Railway Inspectorate are looking more closely at preserved railways. We are now required to have a Safety Management System (SMS), which is defined as a systematic management of the risks associated with railway operations and related engineering and maintenance activities to achieve a high level of safety performance. The essential feature of the written SMS is that "Management SAY WHAT YOU DO about railway safety" and "Staff and volunteers DO WHAT IT SAYS". We are required to have a Director of Safety on the Executive Committee who is responsible for overseeing health and safety. Chris Parr has volunteered to take on this role as he has considerable experience in this field.

The roles of the Safety Officer (Adrian Corke) and Operations Standards Manager (Mike Bannister) are changing. They still make the rules, but we are now all responsible for ensuring they are complied with.

On public open days somebody has to be in overall charge, which includes H & S and this is part of the Stationmaster's role. Among other things, he has the right to examine any member's grade card to satisfy himself that only qualified persons are undertaking safety critical tasks, or are operating hazardous equipment and he has the duty and right to stop anybody unqualified or that he considers is endangering themselves or anybody else. Will working members please co-operate to avoid the need for the Stationmaster to get tough? SM's have enough to do without having to engage in altercations with members.

Whilst not a safety issue, some of the SM's time is being wasted due to some members parking in the Centre on public open days. In addition to searching out the owners, other members query why they cannot park. Please do not leave your car in the Centre once you have unloaded. On quiet days it is probably more advantageous to park in the public car park, as visitors are wary when they see an empty car park. On major event days please park in the members areas or the field.

Notes:
The text in this Quainton Railway Society publication was written in 2007 and so does not reflect events in the 7+ years since publication. The text and photographs are repeated verbatim from the original publication, with only a few minor grammar changes but some clarifying notes are added if deemed necessary. The photos from the original publication are provided as scans in this internet version of this long out of print publication.

Reference:
Health & Safety - Quainton News No. 97 - April 2007