A Safety Management System (SMS) is defined in the Safety Directive as “the organisation, arrangements and procedures established by an infrastructure manager or a railway undertaking to ensure the safe management of its operations”. The aim of the SMS is to ensure a high level of safety performance and continuous improvement and to limit the risks in railway operations.
Railway undertakings and infrastructure managers are responsible for the SMS, each one for its own part of the system and its safe operation. Through their SMS, they are required to implement the necessary risk control measures, where appropriate in cooperation with each other and with other actors.