Report of RAL Supervisory Board Meeting 8th November 2007

The latest RAL Supervisory Board meeting was held on Thursday 8th November 2007, at RAL's Pride Park Office, commencing at 11.00. Please click here for a report of the meeting.

The primary purpose of the RAL Supervisory Board, is to review the controls in place within RAL's management systems to ensure the impartiality, independence and confidentiality of the certification services it provides. In accordance with RAL's certification promise, the views of all customers of its certification work should be represented at this forum and all customers are invited to attend should they so wish.

The next RAL Supervisory Board is scheduled for Thursday 15th May 2008, at the RAL Pride Park Offices, Derby. If you would like to attend the meeting, or discuss any views that you wish to be represented, then please contact the RAL Office on 08701 407633 or e-mail us using the site contact information.

RAL accredited as a RISAB under the Rail Industry Supplier Approval Scheme

RAL has been approved by RSSB as a Rail Industry Supplier Approval Body (RISAB) under the new Rail Industry Supplier Approval Scheme. (Full details of the scheme are available at www.risas-online.org ).

Following internal assessment and system preparation, RAL was subject of a 4-day accreditation audit at the end of September. This audit concluded that RAL has a suitable pool of engineers to draw on to operate as a RISAB. Approval was granted for RAL to operate as a RISAB for all component product groups (marketed under the Engineering Support Group name).

Graham Nicholas, RISAB Manager for RAL, said: “The audit was an exhaustive exercise, designed to verify that our selection of appropriate engineers to be part of the RISAB was robust, as well as confirming the suitability of our internal processes to support its operation.

“The credibility of the RISAS process relies on there being a pool of recognised industry experts to draw upon to provide the necessary assurance that an organisation, once approved by a RISAB, can be trusted to deliver a reliable service to the industry, without the wasteful effort of additional company auditing. RSSB’s audit confirmed that RAL has such a pool of people and we look forward to providing this service to the industry.”

Non Compliance 06/156/NC against GM/RT2000 – Impact on VAB

With the implementation of the ROGS regulations on the 1 st October, ATOC considered that the mandatory requirement to use a Vehicle Acceptance Body (VAB) for conformance and Engineering Acceptance certification should no longer apply.

ATOC submitted a non compliance against GM/RT2000 which allows the Operator’s Safety Management System to choose how to demonstrate compliance to Railway Group Standards rather than have to use the VAB’s.

A very simple explanation is that the same level of compliance checks that a VAB would have carried out still need to be completed to demonstrate your compliance with the ROGS Regulations.

• VABs are still accredited by RSSB and an Operator can still engage a VAB to perform scrutiny against GM/RT2000 as previously.
• Alternatively an organisation with Notified Body appointment is considered to have the necessary competency to perform the same work.
• The Operator can also set up internal ‘Competent Persons’ to perform this work, providing independence, expertise and competence of staff can be established.

We appreciate that the ‘brave new world’ of Safety Verification, Interoperability, Competent Persons and Contracting Entities may be a current cause for uncertainty. If you would normally use VAB certification when undertaking engineering change to your vehicles but are unsure how to proceed, then please contact us and we can offer advice on the requirements.

RAL appointed as a Notified Body under the Railways (Interoperability) Regulations 2006

On 16th May RAL received a letter from Department of Transport confirming its appointment as a Notified Body under the Railways (Interoperability) Regulations 2006. This supersedes RAL’s previous NoBo appointments.

The scope of the appointment is as follows:

High Speed Subsystems/Constituents

• Rolling Stock

Conventional Subsystems/Constituents

• Priority 1
  • Freight Wagons
  • Noise
• Priority 2
  • Passengers with Reduced Mobility
• Priority 3
  • Passenger Carriages
  • Telematics Applications for Passenger Services
  • Traction Units and Locomotives

Additionally, the appointment removes the previous restriction preventing RAL from carrying out work for related bodies within the EWSH group. This reflects the positive recommendation from UKAS in respect of the required integrity demonstrated by RAL’s enhanced impartiality monitoring process. This in turn means that RAL can undertake NoBo certification work on behalf of its related bodies on the same terms as for other external clients.

Robert Dale, Manager Certification Services, said: “We are delighted our NoBo appointment has been extended to cover Conventional Rail. It is particularly gratifying that our hard work in developing and implementing robust systems for demonstrating impartiality, independence and confidentiality for all our customers has been recognised.”

Forthcoming projects, likely to be subject of NoBo approval, are new wagon deliveries for EWSR, further Cl.66 locomotive deliveries for UK freight operators and On-board GSM-R radio installations for the industry pilot project.