Is the Health and Safety at Work Act still relevant?
The H&SWA and its dependent regulations place an obligation on the managers of enterprises to reduce risks to as low as reasonably practicable (ALARP). Since privatisation, this has been implemented in the rail industry, at least in part, by a requirement that train manufacturers demonstrate that the train design has reduced significant risks to ALARP. European Interoperability, which establishes hard technical and operational interfaces, is not compatible with this approach, at least as far as interface risks are concerned.1 The HSE has recognised that the ALARP principle has been overtaken by the specific requirements of the Technical Standards for Interoperability (TSIs) in a letter to Railway Safety which says: ‘If there is any direct conflict between the requirements of the Health & Safety at Work Act etc. 1974 (HSWA) to reduce risk to the lowest reasonably practicable level and the level of safety required by the TSI, the level of safety required by the TSI will be considered to
