THE RISK MANAGEMENT MATURITY MODEL

The Risk Management Maturity Model, or RM3 as it is more commonly called, was launched in 2011.

It was created to explain to organisations what the ORR looks at when judging their ability to achieve excellence in health and safety management, and it was quickly adopted as the go-to guide across the industry.

It is a tool which identifies what people need to be doing to ensure that the railway runs safely and effectively, providing a checklist of 26 themes which range from having proper governance and leadership to taking measures to ensure that people are competent to do their jobs.

Railways are in the business of avoiding harm to customers, neighbours and their own staff, and RM3 enables them to assess how they measure up against each of the themes – and change their practices where necessary.

It was quickly embedded in health and safety management in railways of all sizes and has even been adopted further afield. The Health & Safety Laboratory (HSL) recognised that it had greater potential and has started using RM3 as part of its training courses for people working in other industries.

Subsequently, HSL and ORR worked together to revamp RM3 with better illustrations and even simpler language, which makes it more accessible to a wider audience of health and safety professionals and managers across the economy.