We are delighted to announce that we have been appointed as a Value Added Partner by CGE Risk Solutions, the leading provider of barrier-based risk management solutions.

We have been using the bowtie methodology for several years with railway, metro, tram, fire & rescue and social care clients, so this appointment marks an important stage in how we help clients apply the technique.

Being a Value Added Partner for CGE Risk Solutions allows us to provide a complete solution for the bowtie risk assessment methodology; helping you to understand and apply the methodology and also provide and implement CGE’s specialist software for producing excellent bowties.
CGE Risk Solutions has verified that we have been trained in risk and incident analysis methods as well as the application of these in their software solutions.

If you are looking for consultancy (applying the bow tie technique to your business risks), training in the methodology and/or the software or advice on how to scope or purchase software then please contact us.
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On the 9 November 2016, a tram on the Croydon tramway network overturned at Sandilands. The tram had been travelling at 73 km/h when it entererd a curve that had a maximum speed limit of 20 km/h. The speed caused the tram to overturn as it passed through the curve, and resulted in passengers being thrown around inside the tram, with some being ejected through broken windows. Of the 69 passengers involved in the accident, seven died and 61 were injured; 19 seriously.
The Rail Accident Investigation Branch's report has been released today and makes some far-reaching recommendations for the way tram operations in the UK are regulated and managed. Sadly, many of the recommendations are made about things that are already known about (and managed) in the rail sector, but which were not applied to tramway operations - tramways are often regarded as being more akin to road operations than rail operations. The accident at Sandilands makes it clear that rail sector engineering standards and management systems (for example fatigue management) are highly relevant to tram operations.
The investigation report concludes that it is probable that the tram driver temporarily lost awareness on a section of route on which his workload was low. A possible explanation for this loss of awareness was that the driver had a microsleep, and that this was linked to fatigue. Exacerbating this was that there were few landmarks so that the driver was unable to quickly reorient himself.
The report makes 15 recommendations to improve tramway safety. Some apply to the operator of the Croydon tram network (First Group), but many apply across  all UK tram operations:

• creating a dedicated safety body for UK tramways 
  
• reviewing how UK tramways are regulated
  
• introducing automatic braking and driver vigilance systems to trams (some tramways already have vigilance systems)
• developing a better understanding of the risks of tramway operations, particularly when the tramway is not on a road
• improving the strength of tram doors and windows
• improving safety management systems, particularly encouraging a culture in which everyone feels able to report their own mistakes
• improving the tram operator’s safety management arrangements.

As part of our work to support Locomotive Services (TOC) Limited, we recently spent a day creating video footage of emergency situations that can forseeably occur when operating on the railway network. To create these sequences safely we carried out full risk assesments and safety briefings on the day to make sure that we kept everyone (and some very expensive camera equipment!) safe.
These clips will be used to support learning programmes that we are creating for drivers, firemen, guards, stewards, shunters, service personnel and traction inspectors. The learning programmes are part of the organisation's competence management system that we have developed and support the operational rules and procedures that we are working on.
The top photograph shows what happens when the locomotive suffers a 'blowback' (as happened on a charter train service at Wood Green in 2012). Blowbacks occur when combustion products from the fire are blown back into the cab - when a train passes into a tunnel or when there is a mechanical failure of some sort (as happened at Pickering on a heritage railway in 2006).
The second photograph shows the moment that a detonator (also known as fog signals) explodes under the wheel of a locomotive. Detonators are small metal devices containing a limited quantity of explosive. Detonators are placed on the running surface of a rail by the traincrew to protect approaching trains of a hazard (derailment, track maintenance work, or something fouling the line) - the wheels of a train will cause the detonator to explode and the sound will alert the driver to to stop the train immediately. As well as creating video footage of detonators being placed, and then exploding, we wanted to test how audible they would be from the footplate of steam locomotive under a range of conditions.
We are hugely grateful to the volunteers and staff at the Churnet Valley Railway for providing access to their railway, the locomotive and train, the crew for the day and for allowing us to do some very unusual things!

Our Managing Partner, John Baker, has been working with Locomotive Services (TOC) Limited to set up the organisation and to achieve safety certification from the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) so that it can run steam and diesel charter trains on the UK main line rail network. We have been working with a team of professionals to create a safety management system (SMS) and assess the risks of using 1930s on the 21st century railway network using the bow tie method. An important part of this has been analysing steam-era rules and instructions (mostly 1950s, but some dating from 1934) and turning these into suitable instructions using Plain English principles and current understanding of human factors.
On the 4th of August the ORR announced that it had granted a European Passenger Train Operating Licence to the company.
The next phase of our involvement will see us prepare for the first passenger services. This will include route risk mapping and creating training and competence management systems so that steam and diesel train drivers can be issued licences as required by the Train Driving Licences and Certificates Regulations 2010.

You can read more about the announcement on the Locomotive Services (TOC) Limited website, as well more about the locomotives it will operate.

We are delighted to have won the award for Best Travel Risk Management Consultancy in the Land Transport Awards 2017, hosted by British magazine Transport News INTL.
These annual awards recognise the performances of companies and individuals within the land transport sector. They are designed to promote, reward and recognise the work undertaken by these companies and the people behind them. Each of the award winners is chosen through a combination of votes gathered from a network of respected industry partners and Transport News INTL's own rigorous in-house research.
This award recognises the hard work and business improvement that we delivered for clients in the last 12 months.

We are delighted to have been appointed as a supplier on Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council's dynamic purchasing system. We have been approved as a supplier of training services for staff development and heath & safety.
We look forward to a successful working relationship with Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council.

We are proud to announce that we have recently become a business support provider on the West of England Growth Hub, helping our local business community to grow sustainably.
The resource works by creating a two way referral and collaboration process between the West of England Growth Hub and the existing local business support infrastructure. Finding the help that you need in a quick and easy manner has always been a challenge for businesses, the West of England Growth Hub gives us the opportunity to offer our support and expertise.
This fresh approach by the West of England Growth Hub will be a unique offering nationally and we are excited to be involved in this prospect. The West of England Growth Hub will facilitate access to the most appropriate local providers, via a tailored, intuitive website journey. This is all based upon extensive research and wide consultation with local businesses. The West of England Growth Hub’s unique approach ensures that everything they do reflects the voice of businesses; and the community is at the heart of all it does.
The West of England Growth Hub is powered by Business West for The West of England Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP).
For more information and to see how you can get involved, visit 
www.wearegrowth.co.uk or email: info@wearegrowth.co.uk.

The Chartered Management Institute has just released a report that gives insight into how managers cope with adversity. 
The findings of the report, and the recommendations that it makes, are in line with what we experience.
Understanding and managing risk (through tools such as the bow tie) and building a culture where failures are seen as an opportunity to learn (through effective investigation) are at the core of what we do. 

The Chartered Management Institute (CMI) is the only chartered professional body for management and leadership, dedicated to improving managers’ skills and growing the number of qualified managers. 

Follow the CMI on Twitter at @cmi_managers: if you're based in the South West of England you can follow the regional branch at @CMISouthWest.

Management-speak annoys us intensely here at Silver Moor. Far from making things clearer, it confuses and irritates employees. Management consultants are often blamed (usually with justification) for introducing these phrases. As a management consultancy practice (we ‘operate in the management consultancy space’) our clients are often very pleased (and surprised) by our plain speaking. This is because we see the effects of poor communication in high-risk industries when we investigate serious incidents and accidents.
The video on the right, produced by education charity Teach First, gives a great insight into how confusing management-speak can be. They asked primary age students to identify and translate some of the worst phrases used by management in workplaces.
The Plain English Campaign has a lot of free resources to help. We use these principles both in our work (for example writing operational procedures) and in our training – to help you improve your own skills.
Try our three ‘management speak’ games to see how you and your managers fare. 
Keep your communication short, keep it clear, keep it free from management-speak and jargon.

We're now offering the bow tie method as part of our risk management services.
The bow tie method is a popular risk analysis tool that is used in many industries, especially those where there are significant safety risks. The bow tie itself is a diagram that helps you visualise the risk you are dealing with in one, easy to understand picture. The power of a bow tie diagram is that it gives you an overview of multiple plausible scenarios, in a single picture. In short, it provides a simple, visual explanation of a risk that would be much more difficult to explain otherwise.
​Contact us to find out more.