With the lifting of COVID-enforced travel restrictions in the country, the Railway Industry Safety and Standards Board (RISSB) is relaunching its face-to-face training courses.

First of the rank are three timely and relevant subjects:

· Derailment Investigation and Analysis Workshop (offered in May)  · Investigate Rail Safety Incidents (offered in June)  · Apply Safety Critical Communications in the Rail Environment

RISSB Strategy and Stakeholder Relations general manager Graham Jackson said the organisation was more than just a Standards development body.

“It’s been two and a bit years since we’ve been able to do face-to-face training, and in that time, we had to pivot towards some of the learning offerings on the website,” he said.

“It will be great to resume the personal touch and show that we are here to help and improve the safety outcomes for industry.”

Jackson said the courses were timely given recent occurrences of collisions and derailments in the industry, with the Australian Transport and Safety Bureau releasing several reports into various incidents.

“We are trying to partner with the wider industry to help learn the lessons from these events so that we can hopefully prevent re-occurrences,” he said.

“Indeed, as we get back out and talk to people face to face and engage with them, we are keen to receive feedback on how we might be able to help with training and learning in various areas.

“Is there something we can do better or differently? Help us to help the industry more.”

Derailment Investigation and Analysis Workshop

This is an engaging foundation course that provides participants with an understanding of the principles, methods and requirements for investigating derailments. Over three days, among other things, participants will learn more about the investigation processes, theories of derailment, regulatory requirements, derailment report submissions, and how human factors contribute to derailments.

This course is facilitator-led and relies heavily on class interaction and participation, sharing experiences from previous investigations and learning from each other.

Upon successful completion of the course, participants will receive a Certificate of Achievement.

The course will be held from 10-12 May in Brisbane.

Investigate Rail Safety Incidents

The aim of this four-day course is to teach attendees how to conduct and document any investigation into a railway safety incident.

It builds on industry best practice and promotes a just culture approach for investigations. Participants will learn about subjects such as regulatory requirements for rail safety investigations, causes of rail safety incidents, rail safety investigation types, collecting, recording and preserving evidence, as well as analysis of evidence.

Upon successful completion of the course, participants will receive a Diploma.

The course will be held from 20-23 June in Perth.

There are also opportunities for the course to be held in other cities, including in New Zealand, depending on demand.

Apply Safety Critical Communications in the Rail Environment

The course is designed to develop and further increase participants’ communication and negotiation skills across the rail industry and improve safety critical communications behaviours.

Safety critical communications are communications that, if not delivered, received, and understood correctly, could result in death, serious injury or incur significant damage to property, infrastructure, or the environment.

The RISSB’s Code of Practice provides principles and practices for the transmission of safety critical communications by rail safety workers on the Australian railway network, including all heavy and light rail operations.

The one-day course will focus on the skills and knowledge to be able to accurately communicate, provide timely and accurate rail operational information, and respond to unplanned situations or events appropriately.

This RISSB-endorsed course is delivered by the organisation’s preferred supplier, CERT Training RTO ID 51333.

Upon successful completion of all assessments, participants will receive a nationally recognised Statement of Attainment: TLIF0008 – Apply safety critical communications in the rail environment.