11th IoRW Technical Seminar Rail Welding Management

   
   
   

- Safety and Solutions

The latest Technical Seminar focused on management and safety issues, and provided an opportunity to quiz a panel of experts on any rail welding issue. About 50 people attended the event and benefited from the networking opportunities offered.

Safe storage of cylinders in a vehicle Safe storage of cylinders in a vehicle

All the presentations are summarised below and full details are available to members on the IoRW website.

The day started with a presentation from Chris Birch of BOC on the safe use, handling and transportation of industrial gases in the UK. Particular attention was paid to the transportation of gases by road with some graphic illustrations of what can go wrong if safe practices are not implemented. Codes of practice published by the British Compressed Gases Association were highlighted as essential documents. (An article on these topics was published in the last issue of Welding Lines and is available to IoRW members on the website, see below.)

For the first time at an IoRW Seminar, an occupational physician was invited to clarify the complex issue of what was commonly referred to as 'Vibration White Finger'. Dr Martin Cosgrove gave a detailed account of the condition, now called 'hand arm vibration syndrome'. As a result of the evidence that has been gathered over many years, regulations have been established to help protect workers from the condition. These regulations are important for the rail industry in view of the widespread use of hand held power tools. Essentially, employers must:

  • Assess the risk
  • Inform employees about the risk
  • Remove or limit exposure

The HSE have published tables of typical exposures using common tools, and a risk calculator is available.

With regard to the management of rail renewal projects, Paul Taylor of Carillion Rail gave an insight into the operation of Integrated Management Teams. These involve bringing together employees from the contractor and the authority and gives them joint ownership for the delivery of a specific renewals programme. This has proved an effective way of ensuring satisfactory and timely results.

The next two presentations were from Network Rail: the first, by Ian Davison, dealt with training and competence of rail welders; and the second, by Bill Mosley, covered the recent changes to Network Rail's welding specifications.

With regard to training, responsibility for ensuring proper rail welder training has been taken over by Network Rail following the harmonisation programme originated in the Institute of Rail Welding. Competence management is achieved through a two-yearly assessment and re-certification cycle.

The new NR specification for aluminothermic welding (0032) contains major changes with regard to welder training and competence, final weld inspection and minimum actions, and planning of welding work. In the case of arc welding (specification 0132) sections have been added dealing with welding of crossings and track circuit deposits.

The final presentation was by Tim Jessop of TWI Ltd on the subject of RAILSAFE an EU funded project to develop a harmonised training and certification system for track welders on a European basis. The project is nearing conclusion and the outcomes will include:

  • A Guideline for a system of education, training and qualification and certification of aluminothermic welders
  • A plan for an organisation to operate the system
  • A database of qualified and certified welders

All the above documents will be published in November 2007. ProRail, the Dutch rail authority, have already announced that they will adopt the RAILSAFE system.

The event concluded with a panel discussion on a variety of topics. Like the rest of the event, this was chaired by Philip Instone of Carillion Rail and the panel members were:

Bill Mosley, Network Rail
Bob Sawdon, Balfour Beatty Rail Technologies
Bob Hervey, GrantRail
Peter Wilkins, ESAB Group
Richard Johnson, Thermit Welding UK
Lionel Winier, Railtech International
Jay Jaiswal, Corus Rail
Christophe Mermaz, Railtech UK

The topics discussed included:

  • Introduction of new developments like weldable crossings and new rail types including coated and head hardened rail
  • Process problems and improvements both in aluminothermic and arc welding
  • Welding responsibilites on site
  • Network Rail's national installation database, now being extended to renewals

The discussion lead to the decision by IoRW to have developments in rail welding as the topic for the seminar which took place at TWI Cambridge on 15 November 2007. A full report will be published in a future issue of Welding Lines.



Tim Jessop
Executive Officer