• Provision of Contract Assurance Requirements for inclusion in Invitation to Tenders
• Preparation of the Engineering Safety and Assurance Management Strategy
• Provision of Engineering Feasibility Studies that include, Requirements Capture, Engineering  Options Assessment, Costing and Resourcing Assessment, Project Planning and Whole Life Costing and Preliminary Hazard Analysis

• Establishing the Engineering & Operational Safety Managemant requirements / Targets
• Establishing the Maintenance Requirements / Targets
• Preparation and Maintenance of the Hazard Log
• Quantitative Risk Assessment inc Fault Tree Analysis (FTA) and Event Tree Analysis (ETA)
• Preparation of the Project Systems Assurance Plan
• Advising on appropriate Assurance Project Resource for the entire project duration
• Programming of Assurance Activities for the entire project

• Preparation of the Verification & Validation Plan & Matrix
• Advising on appropriate Assurance Project Resource for the entire project duration
• Programming of Assurance Activities for the entire project

• Management of Essential Requirements
• Verification and Validation
• Preparation of the Product Safety Cases
• Preparation of Generic Application Safety Cases
• Preparation of Specific Application Safety Cases
• Auditing of Suppliers adherence to Assurance Requirements
• Preparation of Operational Readiness Plan(s)
• Assurance of Staged Project Activities and Integration

• Assurance of staged completion
• Review of maintenance activities and procedures
• Operational readiness reviews
• Maintenance readiness reviews
• Preparation of Decommissioning and Disposal Plan

• Preparation of the Closeout Report

Review of safety-related work by professionals independent of the work is an important contribution to the confidence in the safety of the work for both projects and maintenance.

An independent safety assessment can be applied to an entire rail system, a single process, or even a specific product.

In each case, the assessment will be an evidence-based judgement on compliance with safety requirements: an expert’s opinion on whether a level of risk is acceptable under a particular context and environment based upon the evidence provided.

The diverse nature of assignments we have seen through to completion means our consultants begin by defining the exact requirements and designing a proportionate, tailored programme of audit and assessment.

There are two forms of Independent Professional Review:

Independent Safety Assessment provides independent professional opinion that risks have been reduced to an acceptable level and to ensure risks have been reduced (ALARP in UK) and provide confidence in claims made about risk.

Stockton has strong expertise on system and subsystem assessments in order to guarantee an exhaustive and coherent Independent Safety Assessment.

An Independent Competent Person has the skills, knowledge, experience and resources to carry out the safety verification they are appointed for is able to look at the project objectively. The purpose of safety verification is to provide a flexible process across the industry for helping make sure projects that could significantly increase risk are safe. Under ROGS, the ICP must be appointed early enough in the project for them to be involved in:

• identifying or setting standards and conditions for the verification process; and
• setting out the inspection and assessment plan.

There are three important things to consider when appointing an ICP.

1. They must have the skills and knowledge needed to carry out the safety verification.

You should gather and keep evidence to prove this. This evidence usually includes:

• written qualifications that can be checked;
• experience in the industry or the type of work and workplace;
• direct knowledge of the specific process they are overseeing, such as modernising signalling systems;
• experience of the regulatory process, in terms of setting standards and gathering evidence appropriately;
• being aware of current best practice; and
• being aware of the limits of their skills and experience.

2. They must not have been responsible for any of the things they will have to assess in a way that might cause them to be biased in their assessment.

3. They must not be part of the management chain that is responsible for introducing the project.

Our associates have been engaged in the role of an ICP and can use their expert knowledge of railway systems assurance to meet your needs.