Time to Come Clean on Safety

After reports from freight members around the state of ongoing shift breaches, poor fatigue management and other safety issues, your RTBU team submitted a Freedom of Information request to the Office of the National Rail Safety Regulator. We requested the facts on how freight operators manage fatigue and how the regulator holds them accountable. The request we made was under the Freedom of Information Act 1991 which is meant to ensure open, transparent and accountable government. The regulator has rejected all 43 requests for information. We will appeal this. Nonetheless, the question for freight businesses and the regulator is simple – what do you have to hide?

Safety is everyone’s business and to deny drivers the facts about what is happening on track does nothing to address the serious safety risks in our industry.  So next time a manager or a regulator asks for a “safety share” in a meeting, ask them to share the facts.

Here’s the response we got: Determination Letter – Refused Access – FOI – R Hayden (RTBU NSW)