UIC Safety Platform meeting and a profile of their new leadership

The UIC Safety Platform (SP) met on 9 November 2023 in a hybrid format, with its Chair, Ali Chegini, welcoming all of the members.

Ali Chegini, Director of System Safety and Health at RSSB and Chair of the UIC Safety Platform from January 2021, is leaving RSSB for the position of Director HSE at Eurotunnel/GetLink. Therefore, a call for candidates for the SP Chair position had been sent to all of the UIC members prior to the meeting.

SP members endorsed the nomination of Esther Mateo Rodríguez, Director-General of Safety, Security, Processes, and Corporate Systems at ADIF. Her mandate will start from January 2024.

They also took the opportunity to thank Ali Chegini for his valuable contribution to the SP’s work and welcomed Esther Mateo Rodríguez.

Esther Mateo Rodríguez, Director-General of Safety, Security, Processes, and Corporate Systems at ADIF.

Before joining ADIF in 2010, Mateo Rodríguez worked in the private aeronautical, naval and automotive sector, managing national and international projects related to construction, safety, and the transformation of manufacturing processes.
At ADIF, she has held different positions of responsibility, mainly related to projects, work, and support for the maintenance of different specialties, operational risks, as well as technical standardisation and the commissioning of new lines.
Since September 2018, she has been ADIF’s Director-General for Safety, Security, Processes and Corporate Systems, and works on transversal projects that involve transforming the organisation, for example, through ADIF’s Digital Transformation Plan, Safety Culture project, as well as a maintenance and asset management modernisation project.
She defines herself as a leadership, team management, technology, and communication enthusiast, with a drive for life-long learning. She is optimistic and inquisitive.

Then the appointment of new Chairs and Vice Chairs of three SP working groups was announced.

Dr Nora Balfe, Head of Human Factors at Iarnród Éireann (Irish Rail) appointed Chair of the UIC Human and Organisational Factors Working Group (HOFWG)

At Irish Rail, Balfe leads a team for the application of human factors and development of a positive safety culture. She holds an MSc and PhD in human factors and is a Registered Member of the UK Chartered Institute of Ergonomics and Human Factors (CIEHF). Her 20 years of experience spans the rail, aviation, and road transport industries and she has held positions in industry, academia, consultancy, and safety regulation.

Margot van Vliet-Metkemeijer, Incident Investigator at ProRAIL appointed Vice Chair of the UIC Human and Organisational Factors Working Group (HOFWG)

After a career as a physical therapist and practice owner, she graduated in January 2022 with a degree in applied cognitive psychology at Leiden University. Within her role as an incident investigator at ProRail, she emphasises the human factors that contribute to incidents. She is also a wife and mother of two girls.

Leslie Steen, Programme Manager SAFER-W at INFRABEL, appointed Chair of the UIC Occupational and Health Safety Group (OHSG)

Leslie started his career in 2000 at Tuc Rail and was responsible for construction site coordination for the high-speed line between Brussels and Leuven. In 2006 he joined Infrabel to support the project leaders in realising Infrabel’s most important programmes, including ETCS. In 2010, he became responsible for signal box merging in 10 locations, with a new way of working, new tools, and an improved working environment. In 2020, he took on the role of Programme Manager for the Safer-W programme, which improves the safety of track workers.

Guillaume Foeillet in charge of safety topics at SNCF, appointed Chair of the International Rail Safety Network (IRSN). He will chair the next IRSN meeting on 14 November 2023.

He began his career in 1982 as a hardware and software designer. He joined SNCF in 2002 as Head of the SNCF Electrical Lab for Infrastructure where they worked on R&D railway projects for infrastructure inspection applications and the IRIS 320 high-speed measurement train and its data post-processing. In 2012, he took charge of international engineering affairs, including organising IRSC 2016 and a special train promoting railway safety in 2017.
Since 2020, he has been in charge of several railway safety topics for SNCF, such as the safety equipment pillar of the PRISME internal programme and HOF considerations, machine-learning to parse safety event archives, a railway safety audit, and finally, a follow-up for SNCF on European railways topics including CSM_ASLP.

UIC and the SP members thanked the former Chairs and Vice Chairs for their extensive contributions to the UIC SP working groups over the years:

Maria Hedqvist, Trafikverket, former Chair of OHSG
Bernard Penners, Infrabel, former Chair of HOFWG
Ann Mills, RSSB, former Vice Chair of HOFWG
Doris Horvath, CFL, former Chair of IRSN

All SP working groups gave an overview of their work programme 2023-2024, including:

Major 2024 events were announced, such as the 16th edition of ILCAD, the 3rd edition of the TRESPAD campaigns being due to take place on 5 and 6 June 2024 (as well as a technical visit on 7 June). Both of the latter will be launched at two international conferences to exchange ideas on level crossing safety, trespass and suicide prevention best practices. All of these events will be jointly organised by UIC and la Junta de Seguridad en el Transporte en Buenos Aires.
For past campaigns and conferences please see:

The main safety related deliverables were also shared:

Additionally, initial conclusions from the UIC Webinar "Objects left on the line”, held on 8 November 2023, were discussed (see separate article).

The UIC Safety Team informed the members about potential safety-related opt-in projects, which are currently still open for member participation. Please contact the team within 2 weeks to finalise your application. Here is a link for an overview of these projects.

For more information on MIND4CHANGE, RailHOF, and safety culture peer reviews please see the following publications:

The provisional Safety Platform Calendar 2024 is as follows:
Steering committee meetings on 21 March, 3 July, 19 September, and 6 November, followed by a Safety Platform plenary session on 7 November 2024 at UIC HQ.

Registration is now also open for a UIC seminar on the very interesting topic of “How will artificial intelligence impact jobs in railway operations?”to be held on 6 December at UIC HQ.

For more information on the UIC Safety Platform’s activities, please visit https://uic.org/safety

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UIC Safety Platform meeting and a profile of their new leadership

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