Development of the 'Trust Passport' Process

Safer Trackside Working (STW) programme is a Control Period 5 (CP5: 2014 to 2019) funded initiative, with the following goals: • Contribute to the elimination of fatalities and major injuries in accordance with Network Rails... [ view full abstract ]

Safer Trackside Working (STW) programme is a Control Period 5 (CP5: 2014 to 2019) funded initiative, with the following goals:
• Contribute to the elimination of fatalities and major injuries in accordance with Network Rails Transforming Safety and Wellbeing strategy
• Modernise Safety protection and warning systems used by frontline staff
• Reduce the opportunity for human error
• Provide improved safe access systems in the face of increasing volumes of traffic and operating hours
• Develop and promote trust and belief in new technologies by frontline staff with Trade Union support via the Trust Passport Process.

Trust is central to understanding how humans interact with technology (Sheridan & Hennessy, 1984). The degree to which humans trust technology to perform well and handle unforeseen events influences how they choose to co-operate with a system (Moray & Inagaki, 1999). Muir’s (1987) research suggests there is a direct relationship between trust and the use of technology. Reason (1997) proposes that trust can encourage safe behaviour, leading to a reduced number of accidents in the workplace.

This paper will describe the purpose and development of the Trust Passport for the STW programme, which aims to foster trust in the new technologies been developed for trackworker safety purposes and to formalise the development of technologies with staff and Trade Union support.