Thousands benefit from Victa Railfreight’s safety training

MORE than 3900 people across the UK have now been trained on Victa Railfreight’s Rail Safety Awareness (RSA) ground-breaking course.

The candidates all have a job role which includes the possibility of them working in the vicinity of railway lines in freight yards or maintenance facilities.

They come from a variety of businesses and sectors including ports, quarries, power stations and waste recycling facilities and are predominantly employed as site operations managers, loading and discharging operatives, port police, security guards, site contractors, auditors, engineers/ maintenance teams as well as in operational and safety roles.

Neil Sime, Managing Director of Victa Railfreight, said: “We’re very proud of developing this course and adding real practical safety value to the thousands of candidates who have at- tended. As experts in the field of safety training in rail freight yards, we were closely involved with the ‘Guidance on Operational Railway Safety Awareness’, recently issued by RSSB.

“Our bespoke course delivers on the demand for a suitable training standard for staff from a variety of sectors whose duties may involve railway activity in a yard, siding, maintenance facility and at terminals, rather than on the mainline. The course is also ideal for personnel employed in train maintenance or cleaning facilities, and for those employed by the emergency services.”

Tailored courses

All Victa Railfreight’s courses are tailored to each customer’s operational and locational requirements, such as at quarries, waste recycling plants, intermodal, bulk and biomass sites and ports, or for those employed in maintenance roles and for the emergency services.

Mark Grimshaw-Smith, Head of Rail and Sea at Cemex UK, said: “It has been very rewarding to see this excellent course evolve and become so widely embedded in the private sidings sector helping to establish not only the basic principles of rail safety but also help promote a proactive, collaborative rail safety culture. We were involved in tailoring the course for the construction sector along with industry colleagues in the Rail Freight Group.”

Colette Ranford, Training and Development Manager at Victa Railfreight, said: “Our site-specific Rail Safety Awareness training is invaluable for people whose roles bring them into close proximity of activity within rail connected yards and sidings where their duties do not require them to go on the mainline."