Expanding the supervision possibilities of the national safety authority

The national safety authority is obliged to supervise the safety management systems of operators in rail traffic. This investigation noted that even though the safety management system and its supervision have been implemented according to the instructions, the activities in accordance with the system are not realised in practice. The same issue has been observed in previous rail traffic investigations. The supervision procedure must be changed so that the monitoring confirms the functionality of the safety management system in addition to its existence.
The supervision by the national safety authority is based on the EU Directive 2016/798 on railway safety. The authority has stated that it cannot increase supervision within the framework of the directive. In its own investigations, the authority has also observed the problems mentioned above in implementing the safety management systems in practice and especially in self-monitoring. For reasons due to the directive, however, it does not feel that it is able to address them. Therefore, improving safety requires changes on the EU level.

The European Union Agency for Railways (ERA) investigates the potential of expanding the possibilities of the national safety authority to monitor the operators in the field in practice

The requirements of Article 17, Supervision, of the directive cannot be implemented in practice with the current supervision options.

The national safety authority is obliged to supervise the safety management systems of operators in rail traffic. This investigation noted that even though the safety management system and its supervision have been implemented according to the instructions, the activities in accordance with the system are not realised in practice. The same issue has been observed in previous rail traffic investigations. The supervision procedure must be changed so that the monitoring confirms the functionality of the safety management system in addition to its existence.
The supervision by the national safety authority is based on the EU Directive 2016/798 on railway safety. The authority has stated that it cannot increase supervision within the framework of the directive. In its own investigations, the authority has also observed the problems mentioned above in implementing the safety management systems in practice and especially in self-monitoring. For reasons due to the directive, however, it does not feel that it is able to address them. Therefore, improving safety requires changes on the EU level.