CPA Bulletin

www.cpa.uk.net CPA Bulletin > February 2023 45 RAIL PLANT ASSOCIATION: 2 In the event it all proved an unnecessary exercise. The RMT strike action caused so much work to be cancelled that it took the heat out of the market for contingent resources to such an extent that we ended up with a significant surplus of both plant and resources to operate and control them. The RMT strike action continued a theme of late cancellations with the plant supply chain unable to find alternative ways to deploy both the machines and the resources to operate and control them. Since the start of the RMT strike action over £20 million of work for the plant supply chain has been cancelled at short notice. Under the terms of the plant hire contracts, responsibility for short notice cancellations sits with the supply chain unless it is cancelled within a day of the booked shift when responsibility moves to the client. Of course, clients are smart and they know exactly when they need to cancel the resources so that they minimise their own liabilities. The financial impact of the RMT strike action is now greater than when Carillion went into administration. However because of its drip, drip nature it has not attracted the same level of interest. It has however clearly shown that the current plant hire terms and conditions are overdue a review to ensure that they remain fit for purpose. The history of the RPA standard terms and conditions for plant hire goes right back to the introduction of road rail plant when most hires were carried out using the CPA model conditions. The RPA supplementary conditions were first produced in 2002 as an addendum for rail plant suppliers to use in conjunction with the CPA model conditions. Bar a minor update in 2011, these terms and conditions have existed pretty much unchanged since then. Even without the impact of the RMT strike action, the RPA standard terms and conditions were due a complete refresh to make them into a stand-alone document which can be easily adopted and contractualised by both clients and plant providers. The savings in commercial and legal fees going forward make this a very worthwhile exercise for the whole railway community. The RPA have asked me to independently chair a review and rewrite of the RPA standard terms and conditions. I am keen that this is done with the involvement of both Network Rail and the Principal Contractors. At the RPA meeting on 30th November, I asked for nominations and the response was very good. The first meeting was on 25th January where we agreed the scope and programme for the review. The target is to have the final version of the new standard terms and conditions ready for sign off at the RPA AGM in early 2024 which will involve the plant providers, principal contractors and Network Rail. This gives us a year to work through all of the issues and agree all of the detail. If anyone reading this feels that they could add value to the process and would like to get involved then please let Adam Godwin know and we will get you involved. Please email to rpa @ cpa.uk.net . I will keep you posted on progress in future issues of the CPA Bulletin. Thank you Steve and we will look forward to the progress and updates in future articles. Industry POS panel event meeting at Milton Keynes On 25th October, a POS panel event meeting was hosted by Simon Morgan, Head of Corporate Safety, Network Rail. Several areas were covered: • Assurance of POS • Visibility of work banks to assist in planning • Machine Controller and Crane Controller shortages and the threat that carries to job cancellation • POS representative as a Sentinel competence in the future. These were a sample of topics covered. Simon and his team took away the headlines to work on and agreed a follow-up seminar to be held in February or March 2023. We will keep you posted on any updates. Corporate memory (Never forget) How events from the past can build a safer present and future. For those who do not know, or cannot remember the past, are condemned to repeat it. As experienced staff retire or change industry. As new staff arrive, and young people are developed. We must ensure that there is a place for regular reminders of past events in our industry that have brought pain and suffering to our colleagues. Plant-related incidents can be avoided with appropriate knowledge and robust plans with effective management. Do you remind your teams of past events? We have that responsibility. Communication Thank you for reading this article. The RPA Management Committee is always open to discussion for members and non-members. Please have a look at the RPA website pages, which can be found on the CPA website at https://www.cpa.uk.net/specialinterest- groups/rail-plant-association-rpa