Rome, 5 September 2015
As reported by a number of press organisations, the top management from a number of Italian rail companies – including Trenitalia – have been charged with allegedly breaching regulations for safety in the workplace.
Gruppo FS hereby reiterates that Trenitalia has acted in a thoroughly appropriate manner in line with procedures implemented throughout the rest of Europe and, far from being the result of a unilateral decision, this matter was subject to wide preliminary debate with Trade Unions which, further to careful assessment of all safety-related aspects, signed an addition to the Labour Agreement in 2009 and the National Collective Bargaining Agreement currently in force comprising the contents of such in 2012.
Gruppo Ferrovie dello Stato also recalls that:
- the safety of its employees and conditions in the workplace have always been an inextricable value in the Group’s Code of Ethics;
- using a single train driver is standard procedure for trains operating throughout Europe, for example in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Belgium, Holland, the Czech Republic, Switzerland, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary and Poland;
- this procedure has been considered safe by European Rail Security Agencies, including the Italian Railway Security Agency (Agenzie per la Sicurezza delle Ferrovie Europee - ANSF), as well as by the Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies (CER), as recently confirmed in a Position Paper dated April 2014;
- the highest possible safety standards are guaranteed in Italy as the rail network has implemented the train speed protection systems for which Italy is considered avant-garde for some time now;
- every rail company operating in the freight, passenger and High Speed areas in Italy – which amount to over 30 – adopt the same procedures as Trenitalia;
- Trenitalia adopts the OHSAS 18001 System to manage safety in the workplace, which complies with international standards and is provided by a third-party organisation (SGS) which certifies full compliance with procedures and current laws and standards, also by way of effectively ensuring appropriate levels of safety for workers.
Gruppo Ferrovie dello Stato wholly supports Trenitalia top management and confirms that using a single train driver represents the definitive and irreversible procedure to modernise rail transport and make it more efficient.