PKP CARGO has taken part in railway emergency services exercises. The company aims to improve processes and procedures related to the Safety Management System (SMS), including crisis management.
The two-day exercises took place at the railway station in Spytkowice, Lesser Poland Voivodeship. Regional emergency services participated, conducting a simulated rescue operation following the deliberate and intentional damage of a railway tanker carrying hazardous cargo by unauthorized persons. For the purpose of the exercises, PKP CARGO provided a locomotive with a shunting crew and supplied wagons, adhering to all crisis management procedures implemented within the company and the carrier’s conscious responsibility regarding the safety of the transport process.
The goal of the exercises was to improve cooperation between the Spytkowice municipality crisis management staff and fire protection units located in the Wadowice district, as well as to improve the support of services and specialized units legally responsible for eliminating threats and railway services participating in incidents in the event of accidents and crisis situations.
The exercises were conducted in two stages. The theoretical part discussed the course of the exercises and tactical-operational assumptions, and presented the characteristics of the participating entities. The practical part verified the course and functioning of the assumptions during a simulated situation in the field, and checked the preparation and actual verification of developed alarm, notification, and actual response processes, information transfer and exchange, decision-making, cooperation of decision-making structures, real technical and organizational functioning of rescue services, and the preparation of specialized teams. During the exercises, the communication system, the process of obtaining information and making decisions, and mutual cooperation during rescue operations involving a large number of forces and crisis response resources were also improved. At the same time, as part of the application exercises, the functioning of the company’s internal crisis management system, convened for a local-scale crisis situation, was checked.
– PKP CARGO, as the largest rail freight carrier in Poland, consciously makes every effort to continuously increase the level of railway traffic safety in Poland. The company treats exercises such as those in Spytkowice as an opportunity to test its own procedures, implement improvement conclusions, and promote a safety culture on Polish tracks – said Jarosław Klasa, Member of the Management Board of PKP CARGO for Operations, Chairman of the Company’s Crisis Management Team.
PKP CARGO’s participation in the exercises, and especially the implementation of processes and procedures related to the Safety Management System (SMS), including crisis management, was highly rated by the Office of Rail Transport.
– We attach particular importance to railway safety issues. The concern for constantly raising its level on the part of railway carriers, especially PKP CARGO, manifested in exercises improving the safety management system, is a return to good practices – emphasized the President of the Office of Rail Transport, Ignacy Góra.