Transport accidents have an impact on the economy and society. More and more families are affected by

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4 Every day the transport system claims more than 3,000 lives of which 95% are road deaths. The total number of people killed is now more than 1.3 million and continues to grow. The World Health Organisation estimates that transport accidents are the ninth most common cause of death for external reasons and according to forecasts it will be the third by Clearly, transport accidents are on the rise worldwide and despite preventative actions it does not seem likely that the trend will reverse. The leading OECD countries, on the other hand, have been able to turn this trend around with efforts going back to the 1970s. Within the European Union, despite a significant traffic casualty reduction or at least a levelling-off in some countries, transport accidents, in particular road accidents are now the number one cause of death of people up to 45. The total loss is estimated at more than EUR 200 billion annually, more than the annual budget of the European Commission. Poland reached its critical point in 1991 with nearly 8,000 killed, but thanks to a strong commitment to prevention over the last decade, the country was able to reduce that figure to 5,500 annually. Compared to the EU s best performing countries, Poland s road safety is still at an unacceptable level. Each year accidents cost the country about PLN 30 billion, nearly 3% of its GDP. Transport accidents have an impact on the economy and society. More and more families are affected by accidents as their loved ones become killed or injured. Western studies show the growing significance of the problem and transport safety is seen as one of the main criteria of quality of life. Improving transport safety is a priority for both national and international organisations. UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, at the opening of the World Health Day in April 2004 said Road safety can prevent needless suffering, but does not happen by chance, implying the need for governments to initiate and oversee systemic work. The European Union s transport policy in its target to halve the number of road deaths within makes it quite clear that safety is a priority. It is to be achieved mainly by harmonising laws and standards, promoting new technologies, building safe road environments, developing intelligent systems and intensifying education. A lot of that support is expected to come from integrated research in Member States. Poland joined the efforts shortly after EU accession; a new National Road Safety Programme GAMBIT 2005 was developed taking into account EU guidelines. It is part of Poland s development programme for the years and draws on the document Polish Transport Policy for the years , adopted by the Council of Ministers in June GAMBIT 2005 is an important element of the National Health Programme for the Years While transport policies emphasize the risk aspects of transport because of the share of casualties within the 4

5 overall transport losses, there is a new fast developing philosophy promoting an integrated approach to accident investigation. Its point of departure is that the public has a right to objective opinions on the causes and circumstances of a transport disaster, accident or incident, which claimed people s lives or put them at risk. The public should be given some legal guarantee that there will be an independent investigation into a disaster, accident or incident irrespective of the circumstances. This is the essence of integrated transport safety research. Initiated in the United States, the move led to the appointment in 1967 of the National Transportation Safety Board. Europe s opposite number for this body is the Dutch Safety Board. It will shortly be followed by Sweden with its proposed institution, although of a slightly different character. Several other countries have partly integrated systems. These are Germany, France, Finland, United Kingdom and Norway. It is Poland s ambition to join these countries to allow it to actively build Europe s system of transport safety. Sitarz, Air Force Institute of Technology in Warsaw air transport with professor Józef Żurek and Maritime University of Szczecin water transport with professor Stanisław Gucma. The main aim of the project is to build a foundation through scientific research on which Poland can integrate its transport safety policies. It is the precondition of improving the quality of transport safety management and effective safety policies. Professor Ryszard KRYSTEK Gdańsk University of Technology Project Manager In May 2007 the Minister of Science and Higher Education commissioned the Research Consortium led by the Gdansk University of Technology to carry out a three year research project Integrated System of Transport Safety. It was called ZEUS. The Consortium s leader is responsible for road transport in the project. The project members, each within their area of specialisation, are responsible for the following modes: the Silesian University of Technology rail transport with professor Marek 5

6 from the history of transport The history of transport quotes a number of disasters triggered off by what were just minor mistakes but ended up causing dire consequences. Today they are considered the milestones of progress towards improved transport safety. Here are some examples: The warship Vasa sank in the Baltic in 1625 in a spectacular event. She sank as a result of a faulty design and ill-judged decisions of the king Gustavus Adolphus. The Baltic witnessed another major disaster during World War II, when the German Wilhelm Gustloff was torpedoed and sank taking 9343 people with her. The biggest disaster involving civilians happened on 20 December 1987 in the Philippines, when the Dona Paz ferry collided with the oil tanker Victor. The death toll was 4325 people. Some of them burnt after the oil from the crashed tanker caught fire. Some sources say the ferry was carrying three times the allowed number of passengers causing difficulty in manoeuvring; it was designed to carry 1,500 passengers. The oldest rail accident happened during the opening ceremony for the Liverpool-Manchester railway line. It was 15 September The victim was W. Huskisson, pushed by the crowd under the locomotive. On 26 December 2004 in Sri Lanka a rail disaster occurred involving the Queen of the Sea train, killing about 1700 people. The immediate cause of the disaster was the tsunami which smashed the train off the tracks. The second deadliest rail disaster happened in India, when a cyclone swept the train off the rails causing it to plunge 30 metres into the Bagmati river. The death toll was about 800 people. Both disasters were the result of unexpected violent weather: water and wind. The deadliest rail disaster caused by human error was in Ufa, Russia. Two passenger trains burnt down after a gas explosion in a freight train going past. The explosion killed 645 people, including 180 children. The direct cause of the disaster was the poor technical condition of the gas cisterns. before 6

7 The world s first recorded road accident happened in The victim was a pedestrian Henry H. Bliss, hit by a car in New York. Shortly afterwards the first road accident happened in Europe killing a woman when she was hit by a car. When he completed the investigation the coroner wrote may God take care of us and may we never see such great tragedy again. These words take on a special meaning with more than 3000 people killed every day on the roads across the world. This is how many people died in the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York in September The biggest aviation disaster took place in Tenerife on 27 March 1977 in dense fog. Two Boeing 747 airliners collided when the Pan Am craft was taxiing, attempting to leave the runway in the fog, while the second aircraft, a KLM flight was taking off on the same runway in the opposite direction. When they spotted each other, both pilots tried to avoid the collision. The first took a sharp left turn off the runway and the second attempted to climb away. Sadly, the collision could not be avoided. KLM s engines hit the Pan Am s upper deck. The disaster claimed 583 lives. The investigation produced many conclusions and the most important recommendation introduced by the ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organisation) was to standardise control tower instructions to avoid a lack of clarity in English. The investigation found that the disaster was largely caused by miscommunication between the crews of both planes and flight control. 7

8 Poland s transport risks Despite the progress in technology since the early 20 th century and substantial improvements in how the transport system operates, it continues to generate enormous losses every year. The facts and figures in Poland: Road transport Rail transport In 2007 there were about 50,000 road accidents in Poland with more than 5,500 people killed and 63,000 injured. Nearly half the fatalities were pedestrians and cyclists, placing Poland at the bottom of Europe s accident statistics. The most frequent types of road accidents include head-on and side-impact collisions and run-off accidents. Accident analyses identify dangerous road user behaviour and poor quality of road infrastructure as the main causes. The first group includes speeding, drink-driving, poor use of seatbelts, tailgating, disrespect for traffic regulations and other road users. Poor quality of infrastructure means unforgiving roadsides, transit roads in built-up areas, poorly designed junctions and pedestrian crossings. Sadly, in recent years road safety performance has levelled off. In 2007 all of rail transport recorded more than 700 accidents, of which 428 involved trains with 359 people killed and 278 severely injured. There were 295 accidents at level crossings (about 70% of all train accidents) with 85 people killed and 121 injured. 98% of the accidents were caused by road users. The safety of rail transport depends on the infrastructure which suffers from insufficient maintenance and poor condition of bridges, flyovers, tunnels and culverts. Rolling stock is frequently overexploited and technically outdated. The average locomotive age is 30 years and carriages are 25 years old. For this reason alone there were 34 accidents in now 8

9 Air transport Water transport In 2007 there were 761 aviation occurrences in Poland, including 88 accidents, which are occurrences ending in death, severe injury, damage or loss of aircraft. The other were incidents with 14 of them severe. The total of 22 people died, 40 were severely injured and 17 suffered slight injury. Twenty aircraft were damaged, including 10 airliners, 4 ultra-light planes and 1 helicopter. The other aircraft damaged included gliders and ultralight trikes. Analyses of aviation accidents suggest that the human factor is a frequent cause and in particular procedural errors, lack of skill and technical and environmental factors. Technical factors include faulty systems, equipment and radars and malfunctioning undercarriage and tyres. Environmental factors include animals and other objects on the runway and bad weather. Similarly to aviation worldwide most occurrences were recorded at airports or around them, during takeoff, approach and landing. The Helsinki Commission 2006 statistics shows 9 maritime accidents in the Polish zone of the Baltic Sea. Most were caused by the human factor, one by a technical factor and there is no information about the causes of the last one. Maritime accidents include collisions, running aground and ship fires. In 2006 one ship ran aground, one had a fire and 6 had a collision. Analyses of the places where most collisions occur show that risk is the highest around approaches to the ports of Gdynia and Gdansk and Świnoujście and Szczecin. In a 2006 report of the Maritime Chamber of Appeal ships flying the Polish flag had two accidents involving fatalities and three involving serious injury. They were mainly workplace accidents and none of the accidents recorded in 2006 caused pollution of the sea. 9

10 Safety as part of transport policy Poland s development goals and the aspiration of its citizens require an efficient transport system that supports growth. Transport policies should give priority to these expectations and ensure safety of people and the environment. Adopted by the Council of Ministers in June 2005, the Polish Transport Policy for the years identifies four tasks to be completed by One of them is Ensuring the safety of transport. Its focus is on development goals and how they should be realised both in an integrated system and in the transport modes. The basic objective of the transport policy is to improve the quality of the transport system and ensure its sustainable development. Transport systems are key to standards of living and the economic safety growth of countries and regions. Sustainable development will ensure the right balance between social, economic, spatial and environmental aspects in our developing market economy. One of the policy s six goals is to Improve safety to achieve a radical accident and casualty reduction and improve the safety of transport users and goods. Societies benefit from modern transport systems in a number of ways. Efficient transport means better quality of life, improved cost-effectiveness of business and more ways to spend free time. Traditionally, transport safety is achieved through individual measures in a number of areas such as infrastructure, road and rail vehicles, aircraft and ships and how they are navigated, user education, specialist training and enforcement. But the latest research suggests that while transport safety is accomplished through engineering, education and enforcement, each operated separately within the modes, real results can be achieved through integration. The degree of integration is critical for the end result, which is to minimise the risk for passengers and cargo. While countries with advanced systems of transport safety management have been able to improve road safety by integrating their policies across the modes, Poland and other countries are still not putting that experience to work for them. This is why we need transport safety research so that it can feed into the legislation and procedures and 10

11 keep the likelihood of an accident to a minimum. This must be supported with new methods and appropriate regulations. The significance of research and technology for improved road safety has been acknowledged by the European Union Council in its White Paper on Transport Policy Time To Decide of September One of the priorities is research on transport safety. Several of the European Union s Member States have appointed government agencies, advisory bodies and research centres dealing with the safety of transport across the modes: road, rail, aviation and water. Established in 1993, the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) has an important role to play in promoting transport safety. It is a non-governmental organisation and acts as an advisory body for the European Commission, European Parliament and national governments. Within the European Union there is only one such system. Established by the Dutch Parliament, it brings together research and those areas of economic activity which pose a threat to people s lives and well-being, such as the chemical or oil industry. The organisation is called the Dutch Safety Board and is ZEUS main consultant. In Poland transport safety management and the relevant research activities are not under the same umbrella. This calls for a common platform to coordinate research and economic activity. In-depth research and implementation can be pursued through Polish Technology Platforms of road, rail, air and water transport. The most recent analyses show that transport safety must focus on: the position of safety in the country s transport policy, coordination of measures across the country s entire transport system, people, their skills, capacities, perception and endurance, the right technical approach to identify how vehicles (structures) impact the safety of transport. If treated comprehensively, the system will improve the safety of people, goods and the environment and reduce the costs to maintain a safety system and minimise the environmental impacts of transport. 11

12 Integration of transport safety worldwide United States Today s transport is a complex activity and one that requires politicians, policymakers and specialists to integrate goals and resources to ensure that quality and safety needs are met. The success of a transport policy depends on how well it has assessed risk and how it is managed. Many countries have decided to accomplish these goals by integrating the safety systems across the modes. Although they each have different degrees of integration and institutional and legal frameworks, it is clear that the countries have pursued the same philosophy, which was to integrate the knowledge and experience of experts to improve the safety of transport as a whole. Fully integrated models of transport safety can be found in the United States, Netherlands and Sweden. The experience of the United States from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) nearly fifty years of operation clearly shows that the most effective and efficient way to improve transportation safety is to have one independent agency responsible for investigating transportation accidents and studying transportation safety problems in all modes of transportation including aviation, marine, highway, rail and pipeline. Americans claim that by bringing many specialists from different areas such as psychology, medicine, meteorology, theory of systems under one umbrella, they can share safety information and achieve progress in improving transport safety. The objective of NTSB studies is not only to collect knowledge about the causes of transport accidents, but notably to issue recommendations to stop the recurrence of accidents. The NTSB is proud to be independent. This ensures that the organisation has the needed public trust and keeps away pressures from those liable for the accidents. Its work is not about assigning guilt but about identifying the causes of accidents. The combination of independent and intermodal operations has been crucial to the achievements of the NTSB ensuring its continued success in the future. 12

13 Netherlands The American NTSB has always provided assistance to a number of countries as they worked to establish similar systems. It was in the mid 1980s that Mr. Pieter van Vollenhoven first came to the NTSB to discuss his vision for a Dutch organisation. Unfortunately, the strong resistance from existing modal organisations responsible for transport safety and the need for tedious negotiations meant that the Netherlands just like other countries took a very long time to implement the proposal. But success finally came with the establishment in 1998 of the Transport Safety Board. The Dutch public welcomed the new approach to accident investigation under which everyone has a right to objective information about transport safety, about what happened and why and what can be done to stop it from recurring. What is more in 2005 the Dutch Parliament established the Dutch Safety Board (DSB). It has broader powers covering not just transport safety but all areas of human activity which put people s lives and well-being at risk. Sweden Sweden is another example of a country aiming to integrate the systems of transport safety. In 2007 the Swedish Parliament received a proposal to combine the existing transport inspectorates for aviation, rail, maritime and road into one Traffic Inspectorate. The Swedes believe that this will help to intensify work on safety and raise its profile. This decision is particularly important for road transport, which generates the biggest losses each year measured as the number of accident casualties. The government of Sweden has approved the proposal and the new Transport Inspectorate is due to start work on 1 January This decision goes back to Vision Zero, a policy applied to all the modes as a consequence of the public s refusal to accept transport fatalities. The Swedes believe that, if placed in a single organisation, the exchange of information and experiences between the four sectors will be easier and the development of working and investigation methods will be more efficient. One important task for the organisation is to push forward the development of a common safety culture in the whole transportation sector so that just as in civil aviation, safety is a prerequisite for the use of the system and every measure to increase capacity or to shorten travelling time is made under stringent safety regulations. 13

14 The ZEUS Project Integrating Transport Safety The experience of the world s leading countries in transport safety shows that integration (transfer of knowledge between the modes, innovative methods for identifying risks, prevention and rescue efforts) is the key to improving safety policies and dealing with the consequences of accidents. This is why the main objective of ZEUS, a research project commissioned by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education, is to build a basis for Poland s integrated system of transport safety to cover road, rail, aviation and water transport at all levels. The Project s Consortium will focus on studying the elements of the system, looking into the functions, information, organisation, legal, technical, spatial and human resources aspects, all of which are dealt with separately in the modes. To that end models must be built and the integrated safety system will be tested to ensure that all the human, environmental and technical aspects have been included. Work on the transport safety system will be carried out in many areas, mainly planning and designing safety systems, studying the changing behaviour of transport system users, causes of accidents, rescue and medical care, monitoring and databases. The results should feed into new legislative proposals forming the basis for Poland s integrated system of transport safety. RESEARCH ACTIVITIES MODULE 1 Develop methods to study the differences and interrelations between the systems of road, rail, air and water transport safety in Poland and Europe, including urban and regional transport. Key stages: diagnose the condition of Poland s system of transport safety to identify the weaknesses and threats, analyse the risk exposure of road, rail, air and water transport users, including public transport, assess the operation of safety systems by transport branches with special consideration of safety programmes especially national or government programmes, analyse what methods are available for solving transport safety problems with special consideration of the differences nationally and internationally. 14 p

15 PROJECT RESULTS At the conclusion of the project in 2010, ZEUS outcomes will include: conclusions from studies on the safety systems in the modes, a concept of a national integrated system of transport safety with solutions in key areas supporting the intermodal integration of the transport safety system, materials for inter-ministerial consultation, a research and implementation programme as a continuation of ZEUS. MODULE 2 Develop proposals for integrating the safety systems of Poland s road, rail, air and water transport. Key stages: analyse the elements of inter-modal integration and select those that will help to build a single cohesive system, determine the scope of integration to ensure that the results are optimal and keep the costs to a minimum so that the losses are kept to a minimum when a threat occurs, determine the scope of research necessary to build the system and implement it. MODULE 3 Develop models and carry out simulation tests of the integrated system of transport safety management, including human and technology factors and the environment. Key stages: study the effects of system components on safety, develop models of the relations between transport safety and selected system components (apart from the safety of people and shipments, analyse the effects of transport disasters and how they affect the environment), develop a catalogue of requirements for the transport safety module within Poland s planned Intelligent Transport System (ITS). MODULE 4 Develop a national system of monitoring and organisational and medical prevention to take account of the human factor in the area of transport safety. Key stages: analyse and monitor the safety of transport and prevention (especially the period before a disaster or accident ), develop a national system for coordinating transport and transport safety research. roject zeus15 MODULE 5 Develop the structure of an organisational model of a national transport safety management centre to include all types of transport, including transport for crisis management.

16 The Consortium GDAŃSK UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY Faculty of Civil Engineering and Environment Department of Highway Engineering ul. Narutowicza 11, Gdańsk The Gdańsk University of Technology is an autonomous state university and comprises nine faculties with more than 21,000 students in bachelor s, master s and Ph.D. courses. The Faculty of Civil Engineering and Environment has 11 Departments, including the Department of Highway Engineering, Poland s leading research entity on roads and traffic engineering. Its road traffic work covers road and motorway planning and design, transport behaviour, road traffic models, risk modelling and the consequences of road accidents, road safety programmes and performance effectiveness. The Department of Highway Engineering is responsible for delivering the subsequent projects of the National Road Safety Programme GAMBIT 96, 2000 and 2005 and its numerous regional implementations. SILESIAN UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY Faculty of Transport Department of Railway Engineering ul. Krasińskiego 8, Katowice Established more than 60 years ago, the Silesian University of Technology is one of Poland s biggest universities of technology and the first in Silesia. The Faculty of Transport s Department of Railway Engineering comprises two units: Unit of Railway Vehicles and Automatics in Transport. The Department carries out research on the design and operation of rail vehicles and systems of control and automation of transport. The Department is home to the European Centre of Excellence TRANSMEC. Set up in 2002 it deals with rail transport with special consideration of mechanics in rail transport. The Department is running four European grants on rail and tram transport. It is also the coordinator of the Polish Technology Platform for Rail Transport. Team Manager Prof. Ryszard Krystek Scientific Secretary Dr. Joanna Żukowska Team Manager Prof. Marek Sitarz Scientific Secretary Dr. Katarzyna Chruzik The implementation of research project PBZ-MEiN-7/2/2006 commissioned by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education will be the responsibility of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Ministry of the Interior and Administration. It will be part of a subsequent project Integrated System of Transport Safety ZEUS II. The ZEUS CONSORTIUM works with the Headquarters of the State Fire Service, Police Headquarters, Secretariat of the National 16

17 AIR FORCE INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY in Warsaw ul. Księcia Bolesława 6, Warszawa The Air Force Institute of Technology is a research and development centre and answers to the Minister of National Defence. The Institute s mission is scientific support and research into problems of operating products of aeronautical engineering. Owing to the studies in the field of reliability and broadly understood flight safety, the Institute has significantly contributed to the development of Polish aviation. The Institute s output comprises research and experimental works and design efforts applied in the Air Force of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Poland. The Institute explores innovative methods in the area of design and integration of aeronautical systems, logistics systems, safety and reliability, airfield and road infrastructure. The Air Force Institute of Technology holds the status of NATO Commercial and Government Entity, State concession granted by the Ministry of the Interior & Administration and certificate and accreditation of a quality management system. Team Manager Prof. Józef Żurek Scientific Secretary Dr. Mariusz Zieja MARITIME UNIVERSITY OF SZCZECIN Faculty of Navigation Institute of Marine Traffic Engineering ul. Wały Chrobrego 1-2, Szczecin The Maritime University of Szczecin is a state university of technology and answers to the Ministry of Infrastructure. The University continues the traditions of maritime education going back to 1947, when Szczecin was home to a number of maritime schools. The objective of the school is to train highly qualified professionals with skills that meet the requirements of today s and tomorrow s transport, fishing fleets and commercial ships. The University offers courses in navigation, transport and marine engineering in accordance with the requirements of the International Maritime Organization (IMO). The researchers of the Institute of Marine Traffic Engineering are involved in projects and implementation programmes in the area of safety of navigation, marine traffic engineering and navigation equipment for the authorities of Polish sea ports and ship owners. Team Manager Prof. Stanisław Gucma Scientific Secretary Prof. Jerzy Hajduk Road Safety Council, State Rail Accident Investigation Commission, State Aviation Accident Investigation Commission, Warsaw University of Technology, Krakow University of Technology, Radom University of Technology, Gdynia Maritime University, Polish Naval Academy Gdynia, Maritime Office in Gdynia, Maritime Office in Szczecin, Maritime Search and Rescue Service Gdynia, Motor Transport Institute in Warsaw, Institute of Rail Vehicles Poznan, Institute of Forensic Research, National Institute of Public Health National Institute of Hygiene, Central Institute for Labour Protection. 17

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19 ZEUS Coordination Gdańsk University of Technology, Department of Highway Engineering ul. Narutowicza 11, Gdańsk tel , , , fax Scientific Secretary: Dr. Lech Michalski Organising Secretary: Szczepan Gapiński Secretariat: Magdalena Raciniewska, Maciej Sawicki Written by: Ryszard Krystek, Joanna Żukowska, Lech Michalski, Szczepan Gapiński Translated by: Grażyna Jaśkiewicz Graphic layout: Mariusz Boguszewski MBS Photography: Mariusz Boguszewski, Krzysztof Krzempek, Jerzy Bieniek 19

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