Rail safety workers

Rail safety workers and rail operators have a number of obligations to ensure worker health and fitness for duty.

Ensuring the health and fitness of workers

	Alcohol and drug controls				Alcohol and drug controls were developed to ensure that people working within the network are not impaired by drugs or alcohol. This is important for their own safety, the safety of fellow workers and public transport users. Accredited rail operators must do everything reasonably practicable to ensure their workers are not impaired while undertaking rail safety work. More information about alcohol and drug controls
	Health assessments				Health assessments are an important component of a rail operator’s safety management system. The Code of Practice for the Health Assessment of Rail Safety Workers provides practical guidance for accredited rail organisations to establish systems to monitor the health and fitness of rail safety workers. More information about health assessments
	Fatigue management				Fatigue management is also an important component in a rail operator’s safety management system and is required under rail safety legislation.
	Competency of workers				Competency of workers obligations under law require rail operators to ensure, so far as is reasonable practicable, that a person does not carry out rail safety work for the operator unless the person is competent to do so. More information about competency of workers

• a person who is employed or engaged by a rail operator to carry out rail safety work
• a person engaged by a person (other than a rail operator) to carry out rail safety work
• a trainee
• a volunteer

	Rail safety work as specified in the Rail Safety Act 2006 may be any of the following:				Typical rail safety worker roles
	Driving, despatching, or any other activity which is capable of controlling or affecting the movement of rolling stock				train or tram driver trainee driver guard
	Signalling, and signalling operations, receiving and relaying of communications or any other activity which is capable of controlling or affecting the movement of rolling stock				signaller lookout person safeworking coordinator signal maintenance technician
	Coupling or uncoupling rolling stock				train driver shunter terminal operator
	Designing, constructing, repairing, modifying, maintaining, monitoring, inspecting or testing of: rolling stock, including checking that the rolling stock is working properly before being used or operated; or civil or electric traction infrastructure; or signalling or telecommunications equipment				track manager patrolman ganger road foreman train examiner
	Installing components in relation to rolling stock				rolling stock engineer rolling stock maintainer
	Any work on or about rail infrastructure relating to the design, construction, repair, modification, maintenance, monitoring, inspecting or testing of rail infrastructure or associated works or equipment, including checking that the rail infrastructure is working properly before being used or operated				project engineer track worker engineering surveyor communications technician clerk of works
	Installing or maintaining any part of rail infrastructure or the telecommunications system relating to it or used in connection with it, or of the means of supplying electricity directly to a railway or to any rolling stock using the rail infrastructure or to the telecommunications system				electrician overhead linesman power linesman tram electrical worker substation technician
	Receiving and relaying of communications				control centre officer train controller signaller train service officer
	Any work involving certification as to the safety of rail infrastructure or rolling stock or any part or component of rail infrastructure or rolling stock				engineer (rolling stock/infrastructure)
	Any work involving the decommissioning or disposal of rail infrastructure or rolling stock or any part or component of rail infrastructure or rolling stock				track worker signal maintenance technician car & wagon builder
	Any work involving the development, management or monitoring of safe working systems for railways				train crew manager training manager technical trainer safeworking specialists