CPA Bulletin

44 CPA Bulletin > November 2023 www.cpa.uk.net rail plant association RAIL PLANT ASSOCIATION: 1 In this diverse railway industry, the primary focus sits firmly with the train passenger. The basic process of commuting and travel on the network needs the support of many factors. The trains and train operating companies, plus the infrastructure and those people, like our RPA members, who help build and maintain that infrastructure. But for decades now, the RRV/OTP operators have not been able to reach the competency levels needed to operate RRVs without the pre-requisite qualification found in the construction industry such as the Construction Plant Competency Scheme (CPCS) or National Plant Operators Registration Scheme (NPORS). Neither of these, nor indeed any other nationally recognised competency schemes for plant operators, include railway elements. Historically, plant operators working in the construction sector were keen to get into the railway because the unsociable hours associated with RRV working meant an inflated hourly pay rate, and a requirement to work on Saturday and Sunday, an attractive combination. Many of the RPA members became reliant on this resource. But times have changed. The construction sector is thriving and, without the need to work weekend nightshifts, it can pay plant operators handsomely, making it very hard for the RRV community to attract new operators. The attractive combination that was once there for civils operators is no longer. With an ageing workforce in rail plant operations, and the difficult process to progress new staff into the industry, more needs to be done collectively to change the development landscape. If we can challenge the standards of old and build a new pathway process to encourage new talent to the OTP arena, the future will be orange. A proposal to Network Rail’s Capability Development Group (CDG) is to allow RRV companies to train operators from scratch, removing the need to ‘poach’ them from another industry. Also, expanding the Sentinel training courses and assessments to include the RRV ‘base machine’ elements would remove the pre-requisite for a nationally recognised ‘construction scheme’ competence for plant excavators and bulldozers. Plant Haulage In the last issue, I discussed the National Highways Agency and the Central Motorway Police Group. Rail plant haulage will continue to attract interest on a national basis. In the run-up to Christmas, it is crucial now that a discussion is held with Network Rail seniors and the agencies, to be able to co-ordinate essential plant movements in respect to public holidays. We will make the necessary arrangements to establish talks. Load Secure A working group is now underway to review the RPA Good Practice Guide RPA0009 – Security of OTP and attachments for haulage and will be circulated upon completion. OTP Core Now Online Please ensure you have all the necessary information now this subject is online. There has been confusion around the requirements. For further clarification of what is required, contact your approved training provider. We will keep you updated on progress. Steve Featherstone Update There is a management saying which I have used many times over the years which goes, ‘What gets measured gets managed and what gets paid for gets managed first.’ In 2014, Network Rail introduced the Rail Plant Performance Scheme (PPS). This was because plant failure was the single most common reason for engineering overruns. I challenged my engineering team to measure the reliability of every piece of significant plant and then instructed my commercial team to preferentially order the most reliable plant. We backed this up with league tables, bronze, silver and gold certificates and the annual plant awards. The step change in plant reliability was incredible. Prior to the introduction of Rail PPS, the average plant reliability was 96%. Or put another way, there was a 4% chance of a piece of plant failing on any shift which it worked. Within a couple of years, average plant reliability was over 99% and it has remained there since under the ever-watchful eye of the Rail PPS team. We know how many plant shifts are worked each week and we can estimate how many plant failures have been avoided as a result of the improved plant reliability. At the recent Rail Plant Association Leadership meeting, we celebrated the milestone of over 20,000 plant failures avoided. Or put another way, over 20,000 potential engineering overruns avoided. What a brilliant collective achievement by the whole plant supply chain. There is a common theme in many management courses and text books about the importance of planning. This is often captured in catchphrases such as, ‘Poor planning produces poor performance’ or ‘Fail to plan, plan to fail’. In various engineering overrun incidents over the years, failure of planning and failure to follow the plan are consistently amongst the root causes. It was because of this that Network Rail introduced the Delivering Work Within Possessions (DWWP) RRV Operator Competency