Safety Critical vs Non-Safety Critical Roles

[Generic User]

Hello Rail UK Users,

I'm currently 19 and a University Student. I have always looked forward to a career on the railways. In which role? I'm not too sure yet.

I'm looking for a clear distinction between roles which are classified as safety-critical and roles which are not safety-critical - can anyone advise or is there a document someone broadly outlining which jobs are safety-critical and which are not?

The reason I ask is that I have a degree of colorblindness and can't pass the Ishihara test which would preclude me from most, if not all, safety-critical roles. I know there are plenty more roles that I could do but the non-safety critical jobs tend to be less obvious than the likes of guard, driver, dispatcher etc etc.

To start the ball rolling, here are a few examples of jobs, could anyone advise if they are likely to be classified as safety-critical:

- Controller? (as in the control room staff)
- Network Rail Project Manager? Or any role which involves spending time trackside?
- Revenue Protection?
- Train Planning/Timetable Planning?


Oh, and let's not turn this thread into a debate on the rights and wrong of the Ishihara test. At the time of writing it is the accepted method to test for colorblindness, like it or not, so let's not argue about it.

Thanks,
Joseph

 

[C J Snarzell]

Joseph

Welcome to the forum. The issue of safety critical roles is an important one but in my own experience of applying for railway roles I have found that the category differs.

Regarding Controllers - I applied for a Customer Information Controller earlier this year and that role required a medical for drugs and alcohol prior to the successful candidate being offered the job. Sadly I lost out to someone else, but it was a safety critical role because of issues like making emergency announcements and coordinating important information during critical incidents. There are different types of controllers and some roles are not classed as safety critical.

Revenue Protection Officers generally are safety critical as they work on board the trains and have certain responsibilities to assist the Guards/Conductors. I have even found that station staff such as Gateline Operators or Platform Hosts are also safety critical and subject to drug/alcohol medicals. I tend to find that any railway job involving dealing with members of the public (even though you don't operate machinery or instigate strict safety routines like a guard) is classed as safety critical even if it just means telling people where an exit is.

I would say yes again to trackside work like the Project Manager role you mentioned because of the fact you are potentially working in an environment where you are more vulnerable to harm (that's why trackside people always wear high viz clothing!!!).

Finally, the Timetable/Planning role would be non safety critical because it is an office based role with no direct contact with the public.

One last point - a safety critical role with one TOC may not be classed as safety critical with another TOC so you may have to double check this.

I would suggest all front line or customer facing roles are safety critical for the rail industry.

Hope this helps mate.

Regards

CJ

 

[EM2]

Regarding Controllers - I applied for a Customer Information Controller earlier this year and that role required a medical for drugs and alcohol prior to the successful candidate being offered the job. Sadly I lost out to someone else, but it was a safety critical role because of issues like making emergency announcements and coordinating important information during critical incidents. There are different types of controllers and some roles are not classed as safety critical.
---
I would suggest all front line or customer facing roles are safety critical for the rail industry.

Strangely, a Station Controller, despite also doing the above, is not safety critical.
A Customer Service Assistant or similar is also not safety critical.

 

[C J Snarzell]

EM2

Like I said in my post, a CSA role may or may not be safety critical - this may depend on the TOC. I'm sure I recently came across a station based role on a job search that WAS safety critical and I formed the opinion that it was safety critical because of the possibility of having to act in a emergency situation such as evacuating customers/passengers from the platform and station (I do appreciate incidents like this are a rarity but like many jobs outside the rail industry its a case of being on your toes when the need arises).

CJ

 

[EM2]

I have been a customer-facing CSA and a Station Controller.
I have carried out station evacuations.
I have made emergency announcements.
I have co-ordinated resources (including the emergency services) during disruptions.
And probably a hundred and one other things.
The roles are still not safety critical.

 

[mresh91]

CSA at Network Rail is safety-critical if you work mobility assists requiring the use of a station vehicle. But other than that, you are indeed correct EM2.

 

[EM2]

CSA at Network Rail is safety-critical if you work mobility assists requiring the use of a station vehicle. But other than that, you are indeed correct EM2.

Did that as well. Have the rules changed recently?

 

[RightAwayGuy]

Virgin/Avanti CSAs are Safety Crit.

 

[ComUtoR]

'Safety Critical' is about the duties you are required to perform, not specific to the role or job title.

 

[C J Snarzell]

RightAwayGuy and mresh91

Thanks for confirming that - the safety critical role I saw as CSA was a Virgin post based in Lancaster a few weeks ago, I couldn't for the life of me remember where I'd seen it at first but I'm glad I'm right!?!?!?!

CJ

 

[tiptoptaff]

Not all CSAs will be safety critical. If they're a CSA gateline, ticket office etc they WON'T be safety critical. CSA platforms will be, as they dispatch trains.

Some controller roles are safety critical as they have the authority to instruct drivers to isolate safety systems in set circumstances, but being colour blind wouldn't preclude you from those roles as there is no requirement to differentiate Red/Green. Some controller roles are not safety critical at all.

And CJ, with respect, most of the stuff you reply to you don't know anything about, it shows, and the majority of what you write is ilinformed guesswork and nonsense.

 

[alxndr]

Colour-blindness and safety critical are really two separate issues. You can very much go trackside while being colour-blind, although there are a few roles where colour vision is necessary.

 

[Bucephalus]

Welcome to the forum Joseph. Sounds like you have the fun task of contacting recruitment about colour blindness every time you apply..

 

[Val3ntine]

@tiptoptaff
I think your last paragraph is a bit strong, I know you said with respect

Really? I’m inclined to agree slightly, It’s no good giving advice on here if not 100% sure about the subject. But I do believe he is genuinely trying to help others whilst at the same time trying to reach his goal which is really admirable and I would say he is a really nice person. But yeah majority does seem like guessing or assuming.

 

[trolleyman]

Most depends on the TOC in which you apply for.
GWR’s revenue team are not safety critical, as there is no reason for them to go trackside.
What sort of area would you be looking for; so we can all advise for your local TOCS rather than engaging in arguments over the same grades at different TOCS

 

[jymiee]

As others have said it depends on the employer and their use of the job title. Most job applications on recruitment pages will tell you either way or if not either get in touch with the relevant recruitment team or failing that try forum members who work for the TOCs in question.

 

[221129]

Strangely, a Station Controller, despite also doing the above, is not safety critical.
A Customer Service Assistant or similar is also not safety critical.

That all depends on the Company.

 

[Belperpete]

I was a signal engineer responsible the design of safety-critical signalling systems - it was not a safety-critical role.

We employed at least one person who was slightly colour-blind. They were not allowed trackside unaccompanied, but nowadays you don't go out by your own anyway.

 

[Stigy]

Joseph

Welcome to the forum. The issue of safety critical roles is an important one but in my own experience of applying for railway roles I have found that the category differs.

Regarding Controllers - I applied for a Customer Information Controller earlier this year and that role required a medical for drugs and alcohol prior to the successful candidate being offered the job. Sadly I lost out to someone else, but it was a safety critical role because of issues like making emergency announcements and coordinating important information during critical incidents. There are different types of controllers and some roles are not classed as safety critical.

Revenue Protection Officers generally are safety critical as they work on board the trains and have certain responsibilities to assist the Guards/Conductors. I have even found that station staff such as Gateline Operators or Platform Hosts are also safety critical and subject to drug/alcohol medicals. I tend to find that any railway job involving dealing with members of the public (even though you don't operate machinery or instigate strict safety routines like a guard) is classed as safety critical even if it just means telling people where an exit is.

I would say yes again to trackside work like the Project Manager role you mentioned because of the fact you are potentially working in an environment where you are more vulnerable to harm (that's why trackside people always wear high viz clothing!!!).

Finally, the Timetable/Planning role would be non safety critical because it is an office based role with no direct contact with the public.

One last point - a safety critical role with one TOC may not be classed as safety critical with another TOC so you may have to double check this.

I would suggest all front line or customer facing roles are safety critical for the rail industry.

Hope this helps mate.

Regards

CJ

As has been said, it varies between TOC. A lot of the roles you’ve specified wouldn’t generally be classed as safety critical (such as Revenue) and your understanding of when a role becomes safety critical isn’t really accurate.

Safety Critical roles tend to be roles whereby the movement of trains is involved (dispatchers/guards/drivers/signallers etc.) and has nothing to do with handling emergencies or evacuation or customers. It can be directly involved in train movements (such as Shunter/driver/Guard), or indirectly (such as Controller/Signaller etc.). The regulations as to what would bar somebody from undertaking safety critical tasks differs from TOC to TOC too. Also, drug and alcohol testing as part of a medical is nothing to do with being safety critical. Most if not all TOCs will carry out a medical for all their staff at the pre-employment stage, regardless.

 

[Belperpete]

I'm looking for a clear distinction between roles which are classified as safety-critical and roles which are not safety-critical - can anyone advise or is there a document someone broadly outlining which jobs are safety-critical and which are not? The reason I ask is that I have a degree of colorblindness and can't pass the Ishihara test which would preclude me from most, if not all, safety-critical roles.

Depending on the nature of your colour-blindness, it might also preclude you from some non-safety critical roles too. Whereas, as Stigy says, it might not necessarily bar you from all safety-critical roles. It really does depend on the exact nature of your colour-blindness, and the particular role concerned.

 

[baz962]

Also to note , the underground now allows colour blind driver's.

 

[Horizon22]

Station Controllers, or roles in Control are often not safety-critical. This is somewhat surprising to me (and others) considering the amount of safety related conversations they need to potentially have with signallers and drivers.

 

[tiptoptaff]

Station Controllers, or roles in Control are often not safety-critical. This is somewhat surprising to me (and others) considering the amount of safety related conversations they need to potentially have with signallers and drivers.

It depends on the TOC, GWR controllers are considered Safety Critical

 

[Horizon22]

It depends on the TOC, GWR controllers are considered Safety Critical

Indeed some are, hence why I've used "often" based on experience to date.

 

[43066]

And CJ, with respect, most of the stuff you reply to you don't know anything about, it shows, and the majority of what you write is ilinformed guesswork and nonsense.

Really? I’m inclined to agree slightly, It’s no good giving advice on here if not 100% sure about the subject. But I do believe he is genuinely trying to help others whilst at the same time trying to reach his goal which is really admirable and I would say he is a really nice person. But yeah majority does seem like guessing or assuming.

Hate to say it, but I also fully agree with the above.

Advice is only useful when it comes from an informed source.

 

[EastCoastway]

Safety Crit is more about the competencies you hold and whether they require you to be not colour defective for example. It's like a guard doesn't have station dispatch competency in the same was as an RO2.

 

[craigybagel]

When I worked at Virgin, all staff had colour coded ID cards depending on what role they held - and if they were safety critical they had a black and yellow stripe added to it as well, to denote that fact. As well as Drivers and Train Managers (and their management who held those same competencies) station CSAs had it as well if they were dispatch trained. Not all station staff held that competency, so the stripe was an extra indicator.