ANNUAL REPORT 2005/2006 - Railway Safety Regulator

Railway Safety AuditsFollowing a successful training programme undertaken by theInspectorate, an interim Safety Management System (SMS) AuditProtocol was developed. This protocol will be further refined toaccurately determine the risk profiles of the operators to be audited.The audits on both Spoornet and Metrorail are currently underwayand will be concluded during the first quarter of the 2006/2007financial year.State of Railway SafetyThe State of Railway Safety Report for 2005/2006 indicates thesignificant challenges the RSR is facing going forward. Some of theconclusions drawn by the report reflect the following:• The state of railway safety and security is not improving• Costs associated with railway occurrences are dramaticallyincreasing and impact negatively on the cost of doing business• The risk profile of major operators is high and has a bearing on thecosts associated with risk• There is a general negative perception about the state of safety andoperational efficiency in the rail sector in the country• The state of railway infrastructure is appalling and is one of themajor contributors to the deteriorating state of safety in therailways.necessary technical and regulatory capacity, to enable the Regulatorto effectively and competently execute its mandate, was developed.Crucial organisational systems, including institutional policies andpractices have been put in place to ensure compliance with the PublicFinance Management Act, 1999 (Act No. 1 of 1999) as amended, andother relevant laws.The RSR is now geared to enter the next phase of its development,being the consolidation and strengthening of its regulatory capacity.The coming year should see a much more focused and sustainedapproach towards the development of a railway safety regime that isfully responsive to South Africa’s national imperatives and one thatensures operator efficiency through, among others:• Strengthening the regulatory framework through the furtherdevelopment of regulations and standards.• Strengthening the RSR’s monitoring and compliance functionthrough conducting safety audits, inspections, occurrenceinvestigations and monitoring the implementation of recommendedcorrective actions.• Improving state of railway safety reporting through ensuringimproved and standardised reporting by operators thereby enablingbetter analysis by the RSR and• Strengthening institutional development through soundhuman capital management and development, sound financialmanagement, sound management information systems support,sound corporate governance and an improvement in theorganisation’s profile.ConclusionAnnual Report - The 2005/2006 financial year saw acceleration in the implementationof the Regulator’s organisational establishment which included theappointment of General Managers and staff to execute the mandateof the organisation. The most pervasive challenge for the comingfinancial year is the acceleration of the process to populate theestablishment to create the requisite capacity for the Regulator toeffectively execute its mandate in a sustainable manner.Mosenngwa MofiACTING CHIEF EXECUTIVEIn further advancing the RSR’s institutional development, the