Page 9 - Report of the railway accidents investigated in 2021

Annual report 2021
accountability to the Secretary General and the Minister regarding organisation of work and other matters. Legislation of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications, the Secretary General’s Directives, internal procedure rules, operations procedures, current statutes, and other legislation are binding in the organisation of the Safety Investigation Bureau’s work. The Ministry ensures the functioning of the ESIB in organisational and general matters. The Minister approves the list of employees for the Safety Investigation Bureau. On the proposal of the Director of the Safety Investigation Bureau, the duties of the employees are determined in the job descriptions approved by the Secretary General of the Ministry. Each ESIB employee is responsible for the legality, accuracy, and timely completion of their duties. The Safety Investigation Bureau Statutes form a part of the legal framework affecting the work of railway safety investigations and it has been approved by a Minister of Economic Affairs and Communications Directive.
The Safety Investigation Bureau is one of the structural units of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications. As it performs specific duties it has been granted with special rights and independence. The ESIB is functionally independent of the safety authority and the railway regulating authorities. The ESIB’s organisation, legal structure and decision-making process are independent of all parties whose interests might conflict with the duties assigned to it, including railway infrastructure managers, railway undertakings, the charging body, the capacity allocation body and the conformity assessment body. While investigating, the official responsible for railway accident safety investigations performs the tasks of the investigator-in- charge. Nationally the ESIB’s independence is pursuant to Article 22 of the Directive on Railway Safety 2016/798.
Pursuant to the Directive 2016/798 requirements the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications Directive No 72 “Safety Investigation Procedures” has been established for the organisation of safety investigations. The safety investigation procedures are common to all three ESIB’s areas of transport. Pursuant to the Directive the safety investigation ascertains the causes of the occurrences. During the safety investigation recommendations are developed and presented in the report with a view of preventing similar occurrences in the future. The Directive determines areas of a safety investigation according to modes of transport and its coordinator. It stipulates the procedures for commencing a safety investigation and notification of those involved. Depending on the complexity and workload associated with the occurrence, formation of a safety investigation committee is provided. The Directive establishes the procedures for a safety investigation and the tasks of the investigator- in-charge, issuing a safety alert, the format, signing, confirmation and publication of the safety investigation report, completing the safety investigation, proceedings of the safety recommendations, if necessary, the reopening of the safety investigation and procedures for registration of the cases being investigated. The Directive contains annexes of which Annex 3 provides the format “Report to the Safety Investigation Bureau on the action taken or planned in response to a recommendation in an
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