Risk analysis is an extremely important element in the design, production, and operation of technical devices. The provisions appearing in some standards concerning railway traffic control (RTC) devices, especially those related to safety, even impose an obligation on teams designing and manufacturing devices to conduct risk analysis.
This can be shown on the example of the PN-EN 50 126 standard, which shows the system life cycle (e.g., RTC devices), or the PN-EN 50 129 standard, where in safety analysis, necessary for developing a safety case, one of the important elements of this analysis is risk analysis. Risk analysis and risk are inextricably linked to system safety, which is why it is one of the essential elements when making decisions about using a system.
According to European Union law, which also applies in Poland, safety means the absence of unacceptable risk (i.e., the absence of threats). In order to achieve safety, in accordance with EU law, it is necessary to manage safety, which includes safety monitoring and the risk management that precedes this monitoring. Risk can be divided into categories based on the nature of the consequences:
- individual risk (impact on individual members of the community);
- occupational risk related to the performed job (impact on employees);
- societal risk (general impact on the community);
- risk of loss of property and economic losses (disruptions in business activity, penalties, etc.);
- environmental risk (impact on land, air, water, fauna, flora, and national heritage).
Risk management is the planned application of management policies, procedures, and practices in the scope of risk analysis, risk assessment, and recording of occurred threats by infrastructure managers and railway carriers. Safety monitoring is the planned application of strategies, priorities, and management plans by the same managers and carriers in order to maintain an appropriate level of safety. This does not mean abandoning already used safety measures. For example, we do not abandon the division of tracks into insulated sections and block sections, nor the use of the fail-safe principle, nor the use of Safety Integrity Level (SIL) analyses, nor traffic regulations.
The introduction of risk analysis in individual fields of technology is very diverse. In railway traffic control devices, its application dates back several decades. Developed safety standards, e.g., the PN-EN 50126 standard and the PN-EN 50 129 standard, include risk analysis in their scope.
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Source: Logistyka Magazine