IRO Webinar : Competence Management on the Railway in Australia and New Zealand
Wed, Apr 7, 2021 5:00pm AEST – 8:00am UK time
Rail Training and Operational Consultant Graham Force and Competence Management and Incident Investigation expert Gabriel Stroud have been invited by the Institute of Railway Operators (IRO) to host a webinar on 7th April on the current landscape for competence management and the opportunities electronic competence management offers the Australian and New Zealand rail industry.
Electronic Competence Management is a relatively new phenomenon in the railway industry. Based on his experience as an accomplished train driver, Rail Training and Operational Consultant Graham Force highlighted that, “During the 90’s train drivers went through a few checks including assessment checklists, train crews being asked signalling and route questions and basic competence checks i.e. compliance based assessments. Not having a good understanding of competence resulted in multiple incidents and accidents. At that time, the responsibility lay with the trainer to assess the trainee driver and identify their faults.”
Today, railway operators in Australia and New Zealand are still predominantly using paper-based systems, focusing on the 80% pass rate processes. Not resolving the 20% faults can result in repetitive faults and increased SPADS (Signals Passed at Danger).
Elsewhere in the world, things have moved forward and particularly in the UK, many train operators are adopting a developmental competence approach. A driver is responsible for, and graded on their own competence and performance criteria, and have access to the resources they require to manage and improve their own competence.
An electronic developmental competence platform enables operators to access data remotely, provides the ability to drill down into specific issues, utilises resources effectively and help pinpoint issues before they become incidents.
Find out more about how developmental competence management is structured and the benefits for your organisation here.
If you are a member of the Institute of Railway Operators and want to attend for this webinar, you can find out more and register here.