In 2014, it was reported that 48% of rail-related fatalities occur at the Platform Train Interface (PTI). Not-for-profit industry body RSSB approached us to build a tool enabling its broad membership of passenger rail companies to assess and manage the risks presented by PTI.
RSSB currently use a paper-based system, with which rail staff routinely survey platforms and stations to assess their risks and hazards and prepare an overall safety score. This manual approach has become outdated, laborious and ineffective. Errors are made and shortcuts are taken. The interactive PTI tool, developed by RSK Business Solutions, will replace this old approach with a digital system to eradicate inefficiency and data duplication, optimise productivity while decreasing the time taken, and above all, increase platform safety.
We believe risk management begins with rigorous assessment and that efficiency leads to safety. Following consultation with members of RSSB, we developed an online risk assessment platform for both mobile and desktop users to digitise the current assessment process.
Our iOS and Android apps enable the user to carry out crucial risk assessments at stations, and our ‘offline mode’ feature enables uninterrupted assessment in remote locations. Users simply need their device to undertake their assessment, no immediate internet connection is required. Our web app offers more complex functionality. Once, the user obtains an internet connection, any assessments, stored locally on their device, can be synced to the web portal. From here, assessments can be analysed by generating reports for individual stations and comparative reports for multiple stations and networks. The tool will provide a virtual map of station safety which RSSB can translate into actions and mitigations to curtail incidents and fatalities at the platform train interface.
From 2016, our Platform Train Interface risk assessment tool will be used by all train operators in Great Britain. RSSB is launching the tool as part of its cross-industry PTI risk management strategy.