Transport infrastructure safety is most commonly associated with road safety, as when we look at statistics a high percentage of fatalities are associated with road vehicles. However, this does not mean the safety focus on other modes of transport – rail, air, waterways, or any other transport infrastructure is diminished. Irrespective of mode, transport infrastructure by design, and the use of technology is inherently safe – it is human behaviours in its use which determines the true safety outcomes.

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There are numerous leading and lagging safety indicators and overall statistics that seek to demonstrate how safe the various modes of transport are, in terms of use and workforce safety, which are publicly available both at a national and international level (safety authorities, infrastructure managers, independent bodies). This can be combined with a comparable amount of scientific research and other publications, which seek to provide answers and information on the practical improvement of safety and continuous improvement measures. These are acted upon by government, regulators, clients, and commercial enterprises. 

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So, what else is there from this network of expert volunteers around transport infrastructure safety? Do not be too surprised when we may acknowledge ‘nothing particularly new’ as everything is built upon learning from operational experience. However, what may be certainly a value that is an offer to provide a virtual platform where anybody can contribute to that experience with their knowledge, data, analysis and even thoughts, which by sharing may prevent an incident to the travelling public or the workforce that operates / maintains / improves the network. 

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Our current expertise in this panel is still rather narrow covering mainly the safety of staff and other contractors working on the railway infrastructure. Nevertheless, we have more ambitious objective aiming at continual improvement in safety of staff working at transport infrastructure by looking at other sectors for good practice and transferable lessons learnt, i.e. air transport, mining, road haulage, etc.  

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Lagging accident / incident statistics are readily available and only tell part of a much bigger picture in terms of safety, however, we will be able to assist national authorities as independent advisors/experts in that collation and analysis of sensitive data at an international level with the aim of providing recommendations for improvement, examples of good practice, new thinking / understanding , etc. to ensure ‘everyone is home safe everyday’.  

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We have a unique opportunity for sharing knowledge and experience in a simple yet effective way and this outline invites you to channel any questions /contributions/ references/ articles, etc. related to the safety of transport infrastructure that you would like to share. Alternatively, if you are looking for advice or would like to launch a discussion, joint working, etc. you can contact us through our contacts page or send me an email and I will try to respond and/or process through the network of safety professionals for the benefit of us all.​