Improving Safety and Security Management Programs to Realize Successful Outcomes by Focusing on Requirements Management

Abstract

A vital aspect of safety and security management during the development of new rail and transit projects is ensuring that safety and security requirements are properly developed and incorporated into the work products in a planned, systematic and traceable manner. The completed rail or transit project will need to operate as a fully integrated system, but it will likely be designed, supplied, constructed and tested by many parties organized through multiple contracts. Each contracted entity has a responsibility to do some aspect of the work, and can have an impact on the safety and security of the completed rail or transit project. In addition, other impacts to safety and security can arise from system interfaces and inter-modal systems, from other rail and bus systems servicing the corridor/region to highways, bike, pedestrian walkways and para-transit. This paper discusses the critical role of safety and security requirements management during the development and delivery of rail or transit projects to ensure that safety and security is inherent in the project, consistent with US DOT regulations. Safety and security requirements management should be an integrated part of project management, rather than an after-thought at the end of the project. Requirements are not prescribed solutions; rather they are explicit statements, categorized into a logical framework, describing the functions, behaviors and qualities to be achieved. Requirements are typically specified by the owner to express what a new rail or transit project needs to accomplish from an operations perspective. Amongst the project requirements are the safety and security requirements that must be satisfied. The designer proposes a solution to satisfy the requirements, taking into account risk, cost, schedule, and other constraints such as technical issues and human factors. By using the techniques of requirements management, owners of rail and transit properties will have visibility into the status of safety and security throughout project implementation to facilitate control over the project to realize successful outcomes. It should be noted that requirements management techniques are also applicable during the operations and maintenance, retrofit and disposal phases of a rail or transit project. Managing safety and security requirements including the verification process in a planned, systematic and documented manner confirms to the owner, operators, oversight agencies and the general public that safety and security risks have been appropriately taken into account. Thus the owner can ultimately state with confidence that the completed system is safe for operations and public use.