Message from Dennis Symons - SoRSA Chair

The return of ever popular SoRSA Workshop & Conference 2022, that was held at the Radisson Blu Hotel, Manchester Airport, was a huge success.  It was an honour to chair the Workshop & Conference with so many delegates, after a three-year absence.  Overall, I feel that the conference was enjoyed by all, and the committee will be starting to prepare for 2023.  I would encourage you all to complete the survey, that was sent out to all delegates by CIHT on the 06 July 2022, so that we can take note of the good and bad points of the event and make 2023 even better.

The conference presentations, that were made available by the speakers, are on this link - https://www.ciht.org.uk/sorsa/news-upcoming-events/events/sorsa-annual-conference-2022-proceedings/

A report of the event is covered below in this newsletter.

As I mentioned in my AGM Report last month, CIHT launched their LEARN digital learning platform in 2022 and I would encourage all members to access this, as there is some useful on-line learning available, much of which is free to members.  SoRSA are hoping to continue with the webinars over the next 12 months. We are also looking at more ‘face to face’ events and have already offered our services to all the CIHT regions and nations.  Just as a reminder for all members, the webinars that have taken place in 2021 and those to date in 2022 are still available to access via the CIHT website, here.  So, there is no excuse not to maintain your CPD requirements.  If you solely relied on our two-day event, your CPD may expire, and you will not be GG 119 compliant to audit. 

As a reminder, although auditors require a minimum of 12hrs CPD in Road Safety Engineering/Collision Investigation, on a rolling 12 month cycle (DMRB GG 119), those of you who are members of CIHT and registered with Engineering Council, require 25 hours CPD every 12 months.  Ideally, you should be working on at least 2 hours CPD every month, which can include webinars, training or self-learning reading.  This would then avoid any embarrassment of your CPD being ‘out of date’.

Finally, as some of you are already aware, I announced at the AGM that it is my intention to retire from National Highways later this year.  I can now confirm that I have now given my notice and will be retiring on the 30 September 2022. This will give me more time for SoRSA during the next 12 months and all the subsequent meetings and boards within CIHT.

Many thanks again for your continual support of SoRSA and I look forward to seeing you all again soon.
However, if in the meantime you have any questions or concerns that you would like me to address, please do not hesitate to contact me via the email address sorsa@ciht.org.uk

SoRSA Workshop and Conference 2022

June saw the full return of the SoRSA Annual Conference with approximately 170 delegates attending the first in person annual conference since 2019.

Day one included two workshops, the first in the car park with RNIB Scotland, had delegates gaining experience of issues that blind and partially sighted people have with our infrastructure. The workshop, using spectacles that simulate a loss in visual field, a loss in visual acuity and both combined involved delegates negotiating features such as kerbs, tactile paving and crossings that will be a part of almost every walking journey. The second workshop delivered by former Roads Policing Lead Investigator for Northumberland Police, Dave Clement QPM, focused on the moments that follow a fatal collision, highlighting the logistical issues with getting police officers to the collision, the focus on preservation of life and the events that follow including securing evidence, preservation of the scene, victim identification and identification of any suspects in the collision.

The day rounded off with another entertaining but alarming presentation from the fast-talking Head of Physical Security, Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure for UK Government, putting into perspective the security issues that affect our infrastructure and how these impacts on the conflicting desires of mobility and streetscape. Key issues from a Road Safety Audit perspective included protection of public places from terrorist attack, in particular hostile vehicle type attacks, but also included aspects relating to terrorism, espionage, cyber warfare and a host of other things that would keep us awake at night if we knew the details! The government website is full of useful information - https://www.cpni.gov.uk/ - including learning and resources, especially the “think before you link” page, on how criminals and hostiles gain your trust online.

The conference dinner was a relaxed opportunity to catch up with friends and former colleagues and meet new people. Many of the delegates staying at the conference venue made it through to the last orders, before retiring for the night to the splendid rooms at the hotel.

The early sessions on the second day had a specific focus on e-scooters, covering the law around use, the trials underway, the poor link between reported collision data and hospital records, and the injuries that were typically occurring. Three separate sessions made up the late morning presentations, PC Luke Heming, from the Metropolitan Police started with a passionate overview of the issues his force is dealing with across London, primarily with pedestrians, cycles and speed management. John-Paul Doherty and Dr Claire Williams provided an interesting update on their team’s work around visibility at junctions, which will ultimately feed into the next update of Manual for Streets. Some key factors worth consideration from their work, acknowledges that understanding visibility is complicated, with factors relating to road width, traffic volume, ghost islands, and road side equipment all forming part of the whole picture and reinforced the long-held view in Road Safety Audit, that compliance with standards does not guarantee good safety performance. Last up in the morning session, John Worley from Transport for London followed up on Monday’s presentation from CPNI, with details of the work being undertaken in central London around hostile vehicle mitigation and the practical issues experienced linked to heritage, utilities, surface water drainage, access for bus stops and interfaces with the wider road network.

Closing out the conference, Vice Chair Eric Hill and Tristan Brooks hosted the ever popular “is this a Problem” session, with a collection of photos that triggered a variety of sometimes similar, sometimes conflicting opinions, demonstrating that as Road Safety Auditors, we don’t always have the same opinion on potential collision problems or recommendations.