On 19th November 2024, PACTS hosted its Autumn Conference to address the role of safety culture in advancing transport safety. While transport modes such as air and rail demonstrate mature safety cultures, the road sector lags behind. This conference explored why these differences exist and what must change to help organisations enhance their safety cultural maturity.
With inspiring speakers from diverse sectors, the conference highlighted key themes:
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- The importance of cultural maturity in achieving a Safe System approach.
- Insights into high-reliability organisations and their focus on resilience and organisational learning.
- Practical examples from global leaders in petrochemicals, rail, and road safety.
The Safe and Reliable Culture Maturity Model featured prominently throughout the event, providing a structured approach to understanding an organisation’s safety culture. This model illustrates the journey from a reactive culture to a proactive and generative one, where safety becomes second nature. By adopting this framework, organisations can align their strategies and practices to achieve safer, more reliable systems.
Below, you’ll find the conference programme with links to video recordings of all presentations. If you missed the event, this is a great opportunity to catch up on the discussions and insights shared by our expert speakers.
Conference Programme
| Time | Topic | Speaker |
| 9:30 | Welcome | Dan Campsall, Agilysis |
| Session 1: 9:45 – 10:15 Setting the scene and the evidence | ||
| 9:45 | What is Cultural Maturity and why is it important to a Safe System approach to transport safety | Tanya Fosdick, Agilysis |
| 10:00 | Features of a positive safety culture | Patrick Talbot, ORR |
| 10:15 | Organisational Culture – Human factors: Learning Organisations | Phoebe Smith, HSE |
| 10:30 | Survey findings and indication of fleet safety maturity | Stephen Briers, Fleet News |
| 10:45 | Panel Discussion and Q&A | |
| 10.50 | Mini-break | |
| Session 2: 11:05 – 12:35 Case Studies/Best Practice | ||
| 11:05 | Road risk management in the petrol chemical sector | Saul Jeavons, The Transafe Network |
| 11:25 | Risk Management Maturity Model (RM3) not just for the rail industry | Tavid Dobson, The Transafe Network |
| 11:45 | Managing risk across different transport sectors | Mick Kiely, TES 2000 |
| 12:05 | Helping organisations build a culture of safety: The FIA Road Safety Index | Luca Pascotto, FIA |
| 12:25 | Panel Discussion and Q&A | |
| 12:35 | Lunch break | |
| Session 3: 13:30 – 14:20 Case Studies/Best Practice cont. | ||
| 13:30 | Perspective from Scotland | George Henry, Transport Scotland |
| 13:50 | Incident investigation and sharing of findings | Caitlin Taylor, RoSPA |
| 14:10 | Live Q&A | |
| Session 4: 14:20 – 15:00 – Interactive panel session | ||
| 14:20 | Interactive panel | Mark Cartwright, National Highways Tanya Fosdick, Agilysis Luca Pascotto, FIA Saul Jeavons, The Transafe Network |
| 14:50 | Closing remarks and conference close | Jamie Hassall, Executive Director – PACTS |
| 15:00 | Close | |