Safety is our top priority
The railway sector is putting in place devices and procedures to improve safety on a daily basis.
We go far beyond the European safety standards and have established a policy of continuous improvement and implementation of new safety measures as part of our “Safety++” organisation.
Each failure is instantly analysed in detail and dealt with by our experts to put in place additional procedures and protective measures to reduce accidents. This responsiveness and contribution strengthen the safety of rail transport in Europe.
The human factor is central to safety.
Safety is first and foremost everyone’s responsibility!
Railway safety is not just about regulations and technical procedures! Human factors are just as important.
In 2019, we signed the European Railway Safety Culture Declaration together with the main railway stakeholders. In doing so, we have committed ourselves to raising awareness and promoting a positive safety culture in the railway industry via:
– continuous improvement of employee skills, both operational and technical,
– limiting the risk of accidents at work: optimised ergonomics, management of drudgery and risks,
– internal communication on the performance of the SMS (Safety Management System),
– the harmonisation of our maintenance methods using a single manual,
– organisational and operational processes,
– external communication (e.g. conference organised in 2017 on ‘Human factors in safety’)
– our internal training programme: in the coming months, all our employees will follow a training course prepared by the ERA (European Union Railway Agency) to establish a sustainable safety culture. We are the first company in our industry to not only be part of this new ERA offering, but also to actively participate in the further development of the programme as a pilot partner. The launch took place in September 2020 with the training of our Management Committee.
As an ECM (Entity in Charge of Maintenance) since 2010, we have put in place a three-pronged programme to reinforce accepted standards:
1. Management
The continuous feedback of information in our data systems provides us with an analysis and management of risks shared with our customers and service providers.
This feedback (RETEX) allows us to implement strengthened processes for the safety of our wagons, through the publication of annual safety surveys and risk analyses.
We also monitor all alerts and other suspicious activities in the railway sector, which we incorporate into our thinking.
2. Design
Our new wagons are equipped with enhanced safety features (among which: anti-climbing systems, shields, corrosion protection, GPS beacons).
3. Monitoring and management of the fleet
The processing of each repair request ensures that the wagon will be repaired according to our internal criteria and will be back on the track as soon as possible.
All repair data is collected and analysed to obtain an accurate status per wagon and also for our entire fleet across the countries where we operate.
This activity is supervised and supported by our commercial and technical teams (workshops and mobile teams).
Safety to serve the environment
To respect our commitments and our ‘Safety++’ programme, we are constantly improving our equipment by equipping it with environmentally friendly components.
It is essential for us to actively participate in the reduction and prevention of accident risks, in close partnership with our customers and partners, and to implement concrete actions for the environment and safety.
