ABSTRACT
Line Operations Safety Audit (LOSA) is a proactive safety management tool, developed for and used in aviation to collect data on threats and errors occurring during everyday operations, and how these are managed. The present research demonstrates that LOSA is readily adaptable for use in the rail industry; however, the transfer required a number of modifications. An outline is given of some key aspects of the Confidential Observations of Rail Safety (CORS) development process, including: design of observation materials; marketing the program to unions and drivers; selection and training of observers; ethical considerations; and issues surrounding legal and safety accountability.
