Rail operator South Western Railway hosted the first national conference dedicated to safeguarding on the railway.
Held earlier this month in London, it brought together representatives from across the rail industry and its partners, including rail minister Huw Merriman, and aimed to share best practice and explore developments and trends.
The train operator convened representatives from across the railway industry, as well as key industry partners, for a day of presentations aimed at ‘developing capable guardianship’.
Fifteen train operating companies attended along with police services, charitable organisations, campaign groups, local authorities and local community leaders, as well as Network Rail and the Department for Transport.
Subjects included trauma risk management, tackling abuse against colleagues, suicide prevention, and protecting vulnerable young people.
SWR’s Head of Security and Safety Assurance, Dan O’Riordan, invited other train operators to pick up the baton and host their own national conferences to continue these important conversations in the years ahead.
“The railway industry has a duty of care to keep all our customers and colleagues safe, whenever they are on the network,” he said.
“Safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility. By sharing ideas and best practice from all parts of the country, we will be in a better position to tackle shared challenges and make the railway a safer place for everyone.”
Mr Merriman said he hoped this would become a regular conference: “Events like these are not only important for sharing best practices across the sector but should ultimately lead to better and safer journeys across our rail network too.”
Earlier this year, SWR revealed it had received the highest possible score of 100% for its SRS reaccreditation.
Speaking at the conference, Andy McCullough, Safeguarding on Rail assessor for BTP, identified SWR as a “standard bearer” for the SRS. Andy is also a former Safeguarding Director for the Railway Children charity.
