Leading indicators of operational risk on the railway: A novel use for underutilised data recordings

Flight Data Monitoring (FDM) is the process by which data from on-board recorders, or so-called ‘black boxes’, is analysed after every journey to detect subtle trends which, if allowed to continue, would lead to an accident. An opportunity has been identified to advance the state of the art in FDM processes by coupling recorder data to established Human Factors methodologies so that issues arising from the strategically important human/machine-system interface can be better understood and diagnosed. The research has also identified a significantly underused source of recorder-data within the railway industry. Taking this data, the paper demonstrates how key areas of driver performance can be quantified using a simple behavioural cluster detection method coupled to sensitivity and response bias metrics. Faced with a class of operational accident that is increasingly human-centred, an underused source of data, and methods that can join it to established human performance concepts, the potential for detecting risks in advance of an accident are significant. This paper sets out to describe and demonstrate this potential

A Review of Risk Matrices Used in Acute Hospitals in England.

In healthcare, patient safety has received substantial attention and, in turn, a number of approaches to managing safety have been adopted from other high-risk industries. One of these has been risk assessment, predominantly through the use of risk matrices. However, while other industries have criticized the design and use of these risk matrices, the applicability of such criticism has not been investigated formally in healthcare. This study examines risk matrices as used in acute hospitals in England and the guidance provided for their use. It investigates the applicability of criticisms of risk matrices from outside healthcare through a document analysis of the risk assessment policies, procedures, and strategies used in English hospitals. The findings reveal that there is a large variety of risk matrices used, where the design of some might increase the chance of risk misprioritization. Additionally, findings show that hospitals may provide insufficient guidance on how to use risk matrices as well as what to do in response to the existing criticisms of risk matrices. Consequently, this is likely to lead to variation in the quality of risk assessment and in the subsequent deployment of resources to manage the assessed risk. Finally, the article outlines ways in which hospitals could use risk matrices more effectively

Privatisation and Franchising of British Train Operations

The Railways Act 1993 privatised the British railways industry resulting in the separation of ownership and control of the railway infrastructure (track, signals and stations) from that of passenger train operations. The Great North Eastern Railway (GNER), a major train operator, was unable to meet its contractual obligations shortly after successfully re-tendering for its second franchise. By referring to the organisational form and structure of the franchising process, this paper discusses the main financial and operational problems that specifically contributed to the collapse of GNER. In particular, the paper argues that the fragmented structure of privatised train operations, the lack of industry coordination and the inherent problems of franchising an essential transport service explain the demise of GNER and have undermined the general objectives of railway privatisation. Overall, the paper highlights that privatisation of train services has failed to deliver both travelling benefits for the public and financial benefits to the state

The wheels keep on turning. Is the end of rail franchising in Britain in sight?

Institute of Transport and Logistics Studies. Faculty of Economics and Business. The University of Sydne