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competency 

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Whether you end up working for the "big railway", volunteering on a heritage line or helping with a miniature railway, this is where it all begins.  So, this page comes first!

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To do a job on a railway, you have to show that you are competent.  Click here to see who the ORR are and what they think competency is.

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Translated, this means you can be trusted to do a real job as it happens, the way it happens, to do it well and to get it right every time.

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Each something that you can do well is called a competency – and there are lots of them!

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And here’s another thing.  If it ain’t written down, it don’t exist!  You have to be accountable for your actions.

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If you don't like paperwork, then, sorry, you're not going to enjoy or be successful in rail!  Heritage railways use a system called HOPS.  There's no getting away from accoutability - anywhere.      

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The worst paperwork is when you have to fill in an accident report or death certificate

Safety awareness and competency go hand in hand.

Level crossings are the most dangerous places on the railway.

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In an ideal world, there wouldn’t be any.  Network Rail are doing their best to get rid of them.

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Heritage railways need an extremely strong case if they want to reopen one.

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The are so dangerous because they are where people who are not competent access the railway.

 

There are loads of level crossing "horror videos" on Youtube that show how totally ignorant and stupid some people are, but they can be sensationalist and few of them teach competency.

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How Competent Are You?

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What is a "red green light crossing"? Now known as MSL (Miniature Signal Light crossings) farm workers are, or should be, competent in their use.  Would you be if you came across one?

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The Farm Workers Crossing video teaches competence to non railway people.

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Two teenage girls were killed on a level crossing not long ago.

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Read about what happened and decide whether they were:

  • Not competent

  • Ignorant

  • Stupid

  • Unlucky

Another bit of the level crossing story that members of the public often don't understand is why the gates sometimes stay shut for so long.  As we said, level crossings are an annoying (and dangerous) legacy of the past, but we're stuck with many of them and the best thing we can do is explain and educate.  Dadrail is a good site that does that.

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The rule-book is what says how things must be done competently on a railway.  It's a bit like the farm workers' leaflet, but there's one heck of a lot more of it!

 

All railways have a rule-book - and they tend to be quite long! You will spend the rest of your life reading rules, so start now and get used to it!!

 

To show you are competent will mean taking tests on the rules and you have to do this regularly because your competence must be in date

Can you? 

Do you?

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You cannot be safety aware if you cannot recognise and deal with risk.

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Knowing and managing risk is what we do on railways.

Start here! How many hazards can you recognise in the picture?

Yes, you should inform others and everybody involved should solve the problem, but you safety starts with you!

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Remember the motto:

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Home Safely

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