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safety and quality assessment system for rail carriers background the international union of railways, uic, and the european chemical industry council, cefic, have agreed to develop together a common system for the safety management of chemicals transported by rail. the sqas -safety and quality assessment system-concept used for this purpose aims at preventing transport accidents and incidents involving chemicals, and at minimising the consequences of such accidents. it has already proven to be very efficient for other modes such as road or maritime. an assessment questionnaire(*) covering safety management aspects specific to rail carriage has been drafted by a joint group composed of representatives from rail carriers and chemical industry companies. the management structure of the scheme has also been defined. this paper summarises all information necessary for a successful implementation of the system by rail and chemical undertakings wishing to actively participate (*) the drafting, page-setting and printing of the questionnaire have been financed by the following chemical companies: atochem, basf, bayer, bp amoco, infracor degussa-huls, dow, dsm, enichem, evc, exxon basic principles of sqas the sqas system consists of a single standardised assessment procedure – appropriate detailed questionnaire filled in by a competent independent assessor – followed by the definition and implementation of a commonly agreed improvement programme. [more information available here] the system is based on a close partnership between rail carriers and their chemical industry customers. sqas is a voluntary, industry-initiated "best practice" complementary to regulation. it is an assessment to promote continuous improvement and in no way a rating or a certificate. the sqas rail approach harmonises all previous safety initiatives already implemented in this field. benefits the adoption of a common harmonised sqas assessment procedure presents the following advantages: promotion of a constructive dialogue between parties involved with as a consequence increased safety and quality awareness. better cost-effectiveness resulting from a concerted approach. reduction of the number of audits performed independently by individual companies. definition at european level of a common industry "best practice" complementary to regulation. sqas allows: each chemical manufacturer to monitor the evolution of. the safety performance of their logistic service providers, on the one hand, and each rail carrier to demonstrate their safety effectiveness on the other implementation 1. sqas questionnaire the structure adopted for the sqas rail questionnaire is similar to the other existing sqas. the following areas are covered: management (policy, structure, training, recruitment) safety, health and environment (procedures, equipment, emergency) quality (manuals, customer focus) equipment (specifications, maintenance, inspections) operations (collecting and distributing, marshalling yards, main lines, cross border, infrastructure) security site inspections the complete version of the sqas rail questionnaire and guidance note is available on this website: click here 2. assessors the quality and independence of the assessor are key validity factors. a list of assessors selected within the certification bodies already involved in the other sqas inland schemes is available on this website: click here the assessment costs and the choice of the assessor are the rail carrier’s responsibility. 3. assessment the complexity and size of the rail carrier companies make a pre-established specific assessment plan mandatory in most cases to allow an active involvement of all sectors involved. the diversity of the various organisation structures calls for the definition of a tailor-made plan. each rail carrier will have to define their own way of proceeding with the assessors selected. a progressive and possibly random sampling approach is recommended to allow a better time distribution of the assessments. 4. assessment report the assessment report remains the intellectual property of the rail carrier. the report can only be distributed with its agreement. 5. improvement programme the assessment report is analysed in depth by both parties i.e. the rail carrier and its chemical industry partner. a specific safety improvement programme is defined on that basis. the quality of the co-operation between the two partners is a critical factor of efficiency, especially for this part of the process. after completion of this programme a new assessment is performed to monitor the progress and define the next steps (recommended time period between two successive assessments of the same sector: at least 3 years) management structure a strong and efficient common management of the sqas rail project is mandatory to ensure complete success. the management resources necessary for that purpose (sqas manager) are made available by cefic. the key objectives of such a common management are as follows: promotion of the scheme monitoring progress and achievements training and accreditation of the assessors update of the questionnaire supply of adequate templates to facilitate the analysis of the reports development of a report data base the priority issues and the strategy will be defined by the sqas rail board, composed of representatives from all companies and associations actively involved in the implementation of the sqas rail scheme. the board will be jointly presided over by a chairman coming from the rail side and a vice-chairman from the chemical industry side. it will meet on a regular basis to define and update the general actions programme. the sqas rail manager will report to a small, equal representation executive committee nominated by the board for the day-to-day decisions.   copyright © 2000, european chemical industry council (cefic). all rights reserved.
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