New European common safety methods within railway

Scandpower was invited to give input to common safety methods (CSM) for railway systems at the European Railway Agency (EU-organization, www.era.europa.eu ) meeting in Stockholm on the 9th and 10th of June. Invitation was only given to the main operators, authorities and Notified Bodies in Norway, Denmark, Sweden and Finland.

Since a formalized risk-based approach is relatively new in some Member States, the CSM on risk evaluation and assessment should remain voluntary with respect to operational or organizational changes until 1 July 2012. 

The Common Safety Method (CSM) is presented as a typical risk management flowchart. The basis for the flowchart is comparable with the risk management process presented in EN 50126 (RAMS standard).
The main objective for Scandpower participation was to get acceptance for our barrier model in risk assessment of railway systems. The feedback from ERA staff and the Scandinavian Safety Authorities was positive and they all agreed that the Scandpower model is well within the requirements given in the EU directive and the guideline Common Safety Method  document.

For more information regarding application of Common Safety Methods and the Scandpower model for implementation contact Karl Ove Ingebrigtsen