Research Analysis Design Development

Case Study: SHEC Validation of Change

By RADD Solutions Limited

Overview

The SHEC (Safety, Health, Environment, and Crime) Validation of Change system is a tailored software solution crafted by RADD Solutions Limited. It facilitates the management of railway projects that require SHEC supervision. These projects span across categories such as Construction and Installation, Operational, Organisational, Timetabling and General. Additionally, the system effectively handles SHEC aspects related to timetable alterations. This cutting-edge project management tool is designed for the rail sector, aiming to enhance efficiency in workflows while helping to ensure adherence to diverse regulations and standards, and provide Safety Assurance against internal standards.

Problem Statement

The UK's Health and Safety Executive (HSE) provides detailed statistics on injury rates in the construction sector, including specific data for railway construction projects. HSE's annual reports often show that the railway sector aims for injury rates below the broader construction industry average. Further, compliance rates with UK safety and environmental laws are critical metrics often highlighted in reports by the Office of Rail and Road (ORR), which oversees safety and environmental standards in the railway industry.

Over the course of the Financial Year 2022–23, RISQS (Railway Industry Supplier Qualification Scheme) noted that 389 major non-conformances, spread across 154 organisations, were raised. Their findings reveal that unnecessary risk is being imported into the railway working environment, which can lead to near-misses, incidents, and fatalities. (RISQS Round-Up 2023)

Prior to the implementation of the SHEC Validation of Change application, the train operator managed the submission of plans and project documentation through a thirty-nine-step workflow with a minimum of 6 separate approvals. All of this was managed through documents shared by SharePoint and through emails. Furthermore, the submissions could only be validated by a qualified Safety professional at a single point in the process, either at project design and planning stage or once a project had been delivered.

Solution Implementation

The SHEC Validation of Change system is a progressive web application (PWA) used by the SHEC team at a major train operator in the UK. The solution digitises a previously manual workflow that ensures projects of various types are conducted safely and compliant with appropriate regulations. To this end, each type of change project will present a different set of questions, required uploads, and validation steps. The types of change currently include Construction and Installation, Operational, Organisational, General and Timetable. After a year of operation, the system has managed 155 SHEC applications with 6500 answers to project related questions.

The system allows staff members to be assigned as a stakeholder to a project application and informs each person of their responsibilities at the appropriate time. This includes answering question forms, uploading documents as evidence, and performing reviews of each other’s work. The system integrates with SharePoint via Microsoft Graph for document storage, which provides integration with previously digitised steps in the otherwise manual original workflow.

To ensure compliance can be demonstrated, all actions, changes, and updates are logged to create a transparent audit trail. The SHEC team at the rail operator, via this system, is now involved in the project delivery process from inception to delivery. Projects that are managed through the SHEC system are reviewed and validated at multiple key milestones in the project, to ensure safe delivery and that residual risk is managed to be as low as reasonably practicable.

Challenges Overcome

Implementing the SHEC system involved several challenges:

  • Technical Integration: Seamless integration with Office 365 and SharePoint was difficult because the client needed to provide the credentials to access their cloud infrastructure, which was a moving target, at a time when Microsoft’s cloud was rapidly changing.
  • Workflow requirements: The existing workflow had been represented as a detailed flowchart in collaboration with the client. However, as is typical with such systems, it became apparent that many specific workflow paths had not been demonstrated. Change is expected and RADD Solutions worked through many iterations of the solution until all paths had been considered, digitised and user tested.
  • Late Changes: The addition of timetable change management to SHEC Validation of change occurred after the initial delivery. However, RADD Solutions can agree, estimate, and deliver such changes rapidly.

Business Benefits

The introduction of the SHEC system substantially reduces the time and effort previously required for SHEC document handling and compliance checks:

  • Cost Efficiency: By automating various aspects of project management and compliance tracking, the SHEC system has helped reduce overhead costs and improve resource allocation.
  • Improved Data Management: The centralised documentation and audit trails have not only improved transparency but also enhanced the decision-making process by providing stakeholders with timely and accurate information.
  • Auditability: Auditors and officials can easily be presented or given access to the system to show and evidence compliance.
  • Safety Assurance: The method of project managers answering questions and providing evidence on every aspect of project design and delivery provides Assurance to all stakeholders that the train operator is putting safety at the heart of a challenging and unprecedented programme of change across all aspects of the business.

Future Developments

RADD Solutions continues to work with our clients to extend the system as new types of change projects are identified and new regulations come into effect. Our solution for reviewing legislation changes helps to ensure this is accomplished within the appropriate time frames.

This solution can support all train operating companies and, as the system is further adopted, we expect to develop client specific questions and evidence requirements into the system.

Conclusion

The SHEC System by RADD Solutions Limited, with the help of our client’s SHEC experts, has set a new standard for safety, health, and environment compliance management in the rail sector. With its robust functionality and user-focused design, it has demonstrated substantial benefits in terms of cost savings, safety improvements, and operational efficiency. As the system evolves, it will continue to play a crucial role in supporting the industry's compliance objectives and enhancing overall project management effectiveness.

Application Screenshots

  • Figure 1 Home Page & Dashboard
  • Figure 2 View Application Main Screen
  • Figure 3 KTSM Quality Check