The RISQS webinar programme has been designed to provide valuable insights and knowledge to both buyers and suppliers within the railway industry. 

You will be able to view upcoming events and past highlights below. 

Also, we may participate in live events and will publish details of our attendance here.

RISQS roadshows – Spring 2024

RISQS are delighted to announce a series of roadshow events this spring. 

The purpose of the roadshows will be for both buyers and suppliers to learn more about the new procurement regulations and how they will affect both the scheme and their business, as well as hear about the new RISQS portal that will be launched this summer. 

We will also be offering pre-arranged meetings with RISQS colleagues, including scheme managers and auditors, to help answer any questions you may have. 
To view the agenda and secure your place, please follow the links below:

Dates and venues are as follows: 

To register, click on the relevant links (depending on whether you are a buyer or supplier) below, and you will be taken to our registration page. 

Milton Keynes, Unity Place, 1 May 2024 

Birmingham, Macdonald Burlington, 15 May 2024

Leeds, The Studio, 22 May 2024

Bristol, Doubletree Hilton, 4 June 2024

Glasgow, The Merchant House of Glasgow, 11 June 2024

RISQS webinar: New procurement regulations—and what it means for you

Following on from our buyer engagement programme, we held our first webinar of 2024 for rail industry buyers and suppliers to learn about the new procurement regulations and the potential effect they may have on your organisation.

We were delighted to welcome special guests from the Department for Transport and the Cabinet Office to help demystify the new procurement regulations that are due to come into effect this year.

The agenda was as follows:

  • Welcome and Top 5 Non-Compliance Modules — Phil Smith, Scheme Manager, RISQS
  • Demystifying Procurement Regulations — Martin Traynor OBE, Small Business Crown Representative at the Cabinet Office, and Robert Vaughn, Department for Transport SME Champion
  • Procurement Regulations and How to Comply — Suzanne O’Keane, Commercial Business Development Manager, and Paul Haynes, Assistant Scheme Manager, RISQS
  • Audience Q&A.

To view the webinar in full, please watch the recording below.

RISQS Webinar Series: Managing fatigue and presenting safe work packs (September 2023)

The railway industry has a collective responsibility to ensure every employee goes home safely at the end of their working day.

Yet RISQS continues to see evidence of suppliers importing risk through outdated and incomplete documents.

While it may ‘save’ time and costs to recycle work packs from one job to the next, it increases the risk of accidents occurring. When we get safe work planning wrong, it does result in fatalities.

Our latest collation of audit results within 7.2 Managing Fatigue have found:

  • 36% of suppliers are not following compliance in modules within NR/L2/OHS/003.
  • 25% of suppliers do not have a complete risk assessment on fatigue calculating and mitigating risk.

Therefore, on Thursday 14th September, RISQS Scheme Manager Phil Smith delivered a webinar addressing the key points within fatigue management and safe work planning.

To view the webinar in full, please watch the recording below.

RISQS Webinar Series: Staying compliant in a changing world (July 2023)

Supplier assurance is vital to ensure railway employees perform their job competently within a safe working environment.

Over the past year, RISQS has noted that 389 major non-conformances, spread across 154 organisations, were raised. Our findings reveal that unnecessary risk is being imported into the railway working environment, which can lead to near misses, incidents, and fatalities.

On Wednesday 11 July 2023, Phil Smith, Scheme Manager, was joined by Laura Smith and Jo Astor Duggan from Network Rail’s Sentinel Project team. 

Presentations from Phil and Laura delved into the key issues on compliance for suppliers operating within the rail industry. This was followed by an extended Q&A with audience members, which generated a lot of interest and talking points. 

You can watch the full webinar below.

RISQS Webinar: Health and Safety on and around the tracks (March 2023)

In our Health and Safety Webinar, Phil Smith, RISQS Scheme Manager was joined by guest speakers Abigail Patterson, Principal Operations Safety Specialist and John Smith, Technical Capability Manager at Network Rail. Discussions focused on the ‘Safety Critical’ aspect within the ROGS Section 4 and the CITB High Risk Activity to line up with the Construction (Design & Management) Regulations. 

Key topics included: 

  • Health and Safety within Core Operational & Core Non-Operational 
  • Safety Critical' (ORR) and 'High Risk Activity' (CITB) and Principal Contractor Licence 
  • CDM regulations 

You can view the event recording below.