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.

Buyer and Supplier Consultation Group - London

Following the kick-off of the Buyer and Supplier Consultation Group events in January this year, we are pleased to bring you the first in-person session taking place in London. 

Event details

  • Date: Wednesday 30 April
  • Time: 10.30–15.10, with registration opening at 09.30
  • Venue: Cavendish Venues – 1 America Square, 17 Crosswall, City of London, EC3N 2LB

Event highlights

  • RISQS & RISAS Update: Phil Smith, RISQS Manager, will provide an in-depth update on addressing non-compliance and recent developments within the RISQS Scheme.

  • Maximising RISQS Membership: Paul Haynes will share insights on how to make the most of your RISQS membership through events and networking opportunities.

  • Enhancing Training Programmes: Join Melinda Molnar and Vikram Gadiraju for a collaborative workshop on improving training programmes for RISQS buyers and suppliers.

  • Buyer and Supplier Consultation Groups: Participate in focused discussions to enhance the effectiveness of our consultation groups, facilitated by the respective Chairs Amanda Bates and Gareth Morris. These sessions will provide a platform for open dialogue and collaboration, helping to shape the future direction of the RISQS.

  • Interactive Workshops: Engage in workshops designed to gather feedback and identify future initiatives to improve RISQS, the platform and scheme.

A networking lunch will also be provided, where you will have the opportunity to meet the RISQS team and your colleagues from the industry.

People who will benefit from this event will be:

  • buyers: procurement personnel, contract managers, assurance personnel, and engineers advising the above personnel
  • suppliers: quality managers, engineers, and construction managers.

Don’t miss this opportunity to stay informed, share your insights, and connect with industry peers.

Register now and be a part of this impactful event!

Buyers and Suppliers Consultation Group series (January 2025)

Our first Buyers and Suppliers Consultation Group event took place online on 30 January 2025.

Watch the full recording below.

 

RISQS webinar: Lessons learnt from Hatfield 2000 to enhance supply chain management (September 2024)

On Wednesday 11 September, guest speaker Greg Morse, RSSB’s Operational Feedback Lead, delivered an insightful presentation on the Hatfield accident of 2000 and the lessons learnt that still apply to the future of supply chain management. The Hatfield rail crash happened on 17 October 2000 in Hatfield, Hertfordshire. It was caused by a metal fatigue-induced derailment, taking the lives of four people and injuring more than 70. Phil Smith, RISQS Scheme Manager, also presented his usual slot on non-conformance. His session highlighted an increase in incident protection failures and where they were coming from.

RISQS New Platform Tuitional – Wednesday 7 August 2024

On Wednesday 7 August we delivered an exclusive live tutorial on the new RISQS portal.

You can watch the recording of the tutorial below.

We have also collated a list of FAQs. Should you have any questions not covered in the tutorial or in our FAQS, please get in touch via our contact form. 

RISQS Webinar: How do buyers view suppliers in the RISQS portal?

RISQS has more than 80 buyer members and 4,000 supplier members. Our portal helps the supply chain demonstrate their capabilities and gives them visibility to buyers within the confines of a safe, secure railway infrastructure.

A frequently asked question from suppliers is how they can stand out to prospective buyers. Naturally, staying compliant and keeping RICCL codes up to date is an important task. However, we realise that suppliers aren’t always aware of what buyers see when viewing their profile.

View the webinar recording below to have this and many more questions answered.

RISQS webinar: New procurement regulations—and what it means for you (March 2024)

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.

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.