Independent Assurance: What a Practitioner Should Know

Independent Assurance acts as a formal “second opinion” on safety assessment activities within a rail project, supporting both the proposing organisation seeking to introduce the change and the Safety Authority responsible... [ view full abstract ]

Independent Assurance acts as a formal “second opinion” on safety assessment activities within a rail project, supporting both the proposing organisation seeking to introduce the change and the Safety Authority responsible for granting approval to operate or introduce to the market. Attendees are expected to include human factors practitioners who may find their work subject to assessment, or may be intending to join an independent assurance team. The authors draw upon knowledge of the legislative basis for Independent Assessment, and practical experience as members of project teams under assessment and as assessors, to describe how the process of Independent Assurance supports the safe delivery of a rail project.

We review the background and intentions of Independent Assurance and briefly describe some of the key features, including:

• When a project may appoint an independent assessor
• Standards-based assessment, including: Notified Body (NoBo) and Designated Body (DeBo), and risk-based assessment: Assessment Body (AsBo) and Independent Safety Assessment (ISA)
• The assessment process, including: concept assessment, developing an assurance plan, observation and audit of safety activities, review of evidence/documents and production of assessment records, and reporting to the Safety Authority.

The workshop will provide high-level guidance for human factors professionals becoming engaged as Independent Assessors, including:

• How to demonstrate independence and competence for acceptance onto the assessment team
• How Independent Assessment differs from project delivery
• How to structure your assessment activities, review documents and write assessment records and conduct audits

This workshop will also provide practical advice for human factors professionals whose work is to be subject to Independent Assessment, including:

• How to engage with the project assessor
• How to provide documents for review and access for observations
• How to respond to assessment records and audit observations.

Finally, the workshop will identify useful resources for further reading.