A comparison of engineering processes related to safety between the offshore and railway sectors

Abstract: After a period of high activity within the offshore sector in Norway, they now experience a decrease in activity. At the same time, the railway sector is experiencing high activity and new investments. This leads to a shift in the need of engineering expertise. A relevant area of expertise is the designand engineering processes related to safety. This is a study of such processes in the two industries, based on a comparison of the relevant industry standards, and supported by impressions collected in interviews. The purpose of this study is to investigate into the agility of transfer of safety engineers from the offshore industry and into the railway industry. The study shows that the principles of safety engineering are built on the same grounds. There is however a difference in management approach, and in the use of certain tools and methods. The offshore industry has a more developed quantitative approach, while the railway industry relies more solely on qualitative methods. The offshore industry seems to be more narrow and specialized in their approaches, while the railway industry rely on a broader concept of safety engineering. The study shows that safety engineers are not very dependent of deep technical knowledge, but they need to be able to control the processes in a manner that utilize the knowledge of other experts, to analyse the systems under consideration. Even if the technical skills might not be crucial, it seems evident that being able to communicate on the premises of the industry is vital. This seems like an area relevant for specific training, for new safety engineers entering the railway industry. Railway RAMS1 management has been implemented during the last decade, where quantitative methods are gradually being introduced. Safety engineering has historically been based on the experience of the engineers in the railway industry. The new approach, with an increased focus on reliability and availability, can be a good chance for offshore engineers to bring their expertise to use within a new field of engineering. Even if the overall concept of the industry applications is somewhat different, this study shows that the structure and working methods are similar enough for an agile transfer between the industries.