The European Railway Safety Culture Declaration demonstrates the commitment of leaders and authorities across the European railway industry to promote a positive safety culture and to raise awareness among its stakeholders.
By signing this declaration, the leaders of the railway sector agree, among other things, that safety must not be compromised by the pursuit of competing objectives, to promote cooperation, to encourage safe behaviour and to provide an appropriate working environment.
A Positive Safety Culture
Safety culture refers to the interaction between the requirements of safety management, how people understand them in terms of their attitudes, values and beliefs, and what they actually do, as shown by their decisions and behaviour. A positive safety culture enhances the effects of the safety management system by improving its capabilities and effectiveness. The positive safety culture is embodied in the shared commitment of leaders and individuals to always act safely.
The European Railway Safety Culture Declaration
This declaration is one of the tools developed by the European Agency for Railways within the Safety Culture Programme. Its aim is to help railway undertakings and infrastructure managers to promote behaviour and attitudes that will enable them to develop a safety culture and achieve operational excellence. "The companies of the SNCF Group and SNCF Réseau have been cooperating with the Agency since the programme was launched in 2017," says Josef Doppelbauer. For Matthieu Chabanel, "Continuous safety improvement is in SNCF Réseau's DNA. Re-committing ourselves to the European Union's railways agency means promoting our role on a European scale, but also with our employees, partners and customers.”
In 2022, SNCF Réseau contributed to the Agency's safety culture peer review pilot project, organised in cooperation with CER, Trenitalia, ÖBB and SBB CFF. After a week at the Infrapôle Indre Limousin, a team of European experts was able to diagnose the elements that contribute to the development of the safety culture and identify concrete ways to improve it. According to Josef Doppelbauer, if deployed on a wider scale within the European Union, this initiative will enable companies in the sector to significantly improve their safety performance.
About SNCF Réseau
To meet the growing need for mobility and to develop the rail mode to serve the ecological transition, SNCF Réseau is developing the service offer for freight and the passenger market on the 28,000 kilometres of line it maintains, modernises and ensures safety. As network manager, it markets and guarantees neutral and fair access to the infrastructure. As a partner of the public authorities, the territories and the railway companies, SNCF Réseau's absolute priority is customer satisfaction. A limited company in the SNCF group, the company has more than 50,000 employees and a turnover of almost 6.6 billion euros in 2021.
About the EU Agency for Railways:
The European Union Agency for Railways was established in Valenciennes in 2004, and has 196 employees representing more than 22 European Member States.
ERA has been providing EU Member States and the European Commission with technical assistance in the development and implementation of the Single European Railway Area. This comprises enhancing technical interoperability and harmonising rules, promoting simplified access for customers, developing a common approach to safety and safety culture, advising on telematics applications and ERTMS (European Rail Traffic Management System), monitoring National Safety Authorities and Notified Bodies and facilitating the exchange of information between the railway actors in Europe.
Since 16th June 2019 the EU Agency for Railways is mandated to issue single safety certificates and vehicle (type) authorisations valid in multiple European countries and to ensure an interoperable European Rail Traffic Management System.
Media Contacts
SNCF Réseau: Soune Serre – 06 35 22 05 51- soune.serre@reseau.sncf.fr
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European Railway Safety Culture Declaration – SNCF Réseau Renews its Commitment to Promote a Positive Safety Culture
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