Safety Doesn’t Happen By Accident Part 2 With Sonia Bot And Tony Zenga

Industry 4.0 (also known as the Fourth Industrial Revolution) is a
reality. Railroads, including their partners in the transportation
supply chain, are at the beginning of their journey to establishing
true end-to-end digital continuity. For example: Industrial
Internet of Things (IIoT); Positive Train Control (PTC) and
Enhanced Train Control (ETC); and AI (artificial
intelligence)-based automation such as expanding autonomous
inspection to include predictive analytics for track data. How do
we know that these solutions and systems are safe and that there
are no lurking issues? How do we know that the integration of
multiple components from vendors, partners, and even from within
meet safety objectives? How do we know if safety integrity is
preserved after a change is made? How do we shift the paradigm
where safety moves from a cost center to a value-added business
driver? In Part 2 of this three-part series, which accompanies an
article in Railway Age’s November 2020 issue, Sonia Bot, The BOT
Consulting Group Inc., and Tony Zenga, CMTIGroup Inc., make the
case for system safety as the necessary discipline for railroads to
embed as they move forward in innovating and advancing in the 21st
century.