A recent meeting of the UKTram Operations Group looked at the tools that operators can use to further develop their “Just Culture” as representatives from tramways (including heritage) across the British Isles met in Manchester.
Representatives from Manchester Metrolink, LUAS, Edinburgh Trams, Tram Operations Limited, Nottingham Trams, Midland Metro, Transport for Wales, Crich Tramway Village, Blackpool Trams and Docklands Light Railway took part in a special best practice session on the concept of shared accountability.
The session outlined how a just culture encourages organisations to be accountable for systems they have in place and to fairly respond to the behaviours of their employers.
Steve Duckering, UKTram Operations Manager, said: “The session provided a fascinating insight into approaches used to drive safety improvements across an organisation. Following an incident, a just culture asks, ‘what went wrong?’ rather than ‘who caused the problem? This allows for individual accountability and encourages employees to be open about potential risks rather than hiding mistakes. Feedback from the meeting will also be submitted to the Light Rail Safety and Standards Board as it prepares a Technical Note on the subject.”
The session also saw discussions on the release of a track safety awareness tool.