Use of codes of practice

“A written set of rules that, when correctly applied, can be used to control one or more specific hazards.”

Codes of practice must:

• be widely acknowledged in the specific domain;

• be relevant for the control of the considered hazards, meaning that it has been successfully applied in similar situations;

• be publicly available for all actors who want to use them, not necessarily free of charge.

Codes of practice cover documents described as standards, procedures or rule books, for railways, for example:

• Technical Specifications for Interoperability (TSIs);

• National Technical Rules and National Safety Rules;

• Rail Industry Standards;

• British Standards, Euronorms, and other international standards;

• Network Rail company standards;

• Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC) standards;

• Etc.

Codes of practice are rarely written just to control hazards – they are normally also written to deliver other benefits such as efficiency, interoperability, and reliability.

When

• Safety measures from the codes of practice appropriately cover the hazard, and;

• The codes of practice are fully complied with.

Then

• The safety measures from the codes of practice are considered safety requirements for the hazard;

• Record the reasons for believing that the safety requirements from the codes of practice appropriately cover the hazard;

• Add the safety requirements in the system definition.