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A Good Practice Guide toIntegrating Non-Technical Skills into Rail Safety Critical Roles

Copyright© Rail Safety and Standards Board Limited, 2016. All rights reserved.

This publication may be reproduced free of charge for research, private study or for internal circulation within an organisation. This is subject to it being reproduced and referenced accurately and not being used in a misleading context. The material must be acknowledged as the copyright of Rail Safety and Standards Board and the title of the publication specified accordingly. For any other use of the material please apply to RSSB's Head of Human Factors for permission. Any additional queries can be directed to [email protected]. This publication can be accessed by authorised audiences, via the SPARK website: www.sparkrail.org.

Written by:

Dr Philippa Murphy and Paul Leach, RSSB

Published:

July 2016

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.sparkrail.org

A Good Practice Guide to Integrating Non-Technical Skills into Rail Safety Critical Roles

Foreword

Non-Technical Skills (NTS) were formally introduced to the GB rail industry in 2012 when the list of NTS categories and skills were defined, a train-the-trainer course was created along with various supporting documents to help the industry better understand and integrate NTS. Since 2012, the industry has made great strides in their understanding, development and integration of NTS. There is good practise developing as companies plan their NTS integration and start to realise the benefits that NTS can give.

This guide supersedes the original Integration Guide (http://www.rssb.co.uk/Library/improving-industry-performance/2012-guidance-non-technical-skills.pdf) and is a result of consultation with industry partners to provide more up to date guidance. While the original guide is still useful, particularly for companies who are at the outset of their NTS journey, this guide provides more practical guidance, learning from other companies or industries and references up to date research.

One of the key aims of this guide is to be practical and focused around key stages of NTS integration, namely: planning the integration, identifying the relevant NTS, integrating NTS into selection, training NTS, measuring NTS and finally reviewing the effectiveness of the programme. This guide is supported by the on-line RSSB NTS toolkit, details of which can be found in section 1.6. The guide has been developed with and endorsed by industry leaders and partners. As part of the ORR's guidance on 'Developing and Maintaining Staff Competence' their document references the importance of integrating NTS into company's competence management systems. The ORR endorses the use of information contained in this guide to help fulfil their expectations.

RSSB hopes that you find this guide interesting and useful in supporting your NTS integration work. For companies with NTS integration already underway, we hope it can provide you with some new ideas, different insights and motivation to keep your NTS programme moving forward. If you are new to NTS we hope that this guide provides you with the information you need to better understand NTS and its benefits and develop a common-sense structure around which to understand and plan your NTS integration.

RSSB | A Good Practice Guide to Integrating Non-Technical Skills into Rail Safety CriticalRoles

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http://www.rssb.co.uk/Library/improving-industry-performance/2012-guidance-non-technical-skills.pdf



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Acknowledgements

RSSB would like to thank these organisations for their help with writing this integration guide:

SouthEastern Trains

Office of Rail and Road

Abellio ScotRail

Northern Rail

Great Western Railway

Abellio Greater Anglia

Transport for London

East Midland Trains

Network Rail

Crossrail

Arriva Trains Wales

ORR is convinced that improving the non-technical skills of staff is key to further enhancing risk control on Britain's railways. We commend this updated RSSB guide on NTS integration as a valuable addition to the existing suite of guidance on improving NTS within the UK rail industry.

Johnny Schute OBE MBA MScDeputy Director, Policy Strategy and PlanningRailway Safety Directorate ORR

RSSB | A Good Practice Guide to Integrating Non-Technical Skills into Rail Safety Critical Roles

Table of Contents

Foreword................................................................................................. i

Acknowledgements ........................................................................... ii

1 Introduction.......................................................................................11.1 What are non-technical skills? ...................................................................................1

1.2 Why develop non-technical skills? ...........................................................................3

1.3 Who is this guide for? ...................................................................................................4

1.4 What is the purpose of the guide? ..........................................................................5

1.5 How can this guide help you? ..................................................................................5

1.6 The RSSB NTS online toolkit.......................................................................................8

2 Planning the integration of non-technical skills ...................92.1 How can this section help you?.................................................................................9

2.2 Who should be in the project team?.......................................................................9

2.3 How do I develop my plan?.....................................................................................10

2.3.1 Why have a plan?..............................................................................................................................102.3.2 Where to start? ..................................................................................................................................102.3.3 Is my organisation ready? ............................................................................................................112.3.4 What should be in my plan? .........................................................................................................12

2.4 How do I sell my plan to the organisation? ......................................................14

2.4.1 Senior management commitment.............................................................................................142.4.2 Wider business ...................................................................................................................................15

3 Identify non-technical skills ......................................................183.1 How can this section help you? ............................................................................18

3.2 How do I determine which NTS are relevant? .................................................19

3.2.1 Identify your technical tasks.........................................................................................................193.2.2 Map NTS to your technical tasks.................................................................................................20

3.2.3 Review and finalise your mapping and prioritisation ........................................................24

3.3 How do I integrate NTS into my competence standards? .......................... 25

3.3.1 Why integrate? ..................................................................................................................................253.3.2 What are my options? .....................................................................................................................263.3.3 Which option to choose? ...............................................................................................................28

4 Integrating non-technical skills into selection....................294.1 How can this section help you? ............................................................................. 29

4.2 How do I integrate NTS into selection criteria?............................................... 30

4.2.1 Consider existing knowledge of staff .......................................................................................304.2.2 Compare selection criteria to your NTS mapping ................................................................304.2.3 Make improvements where necessary......................................................................................30

4.3 How do I measure NTS in selection? ................................................................... 33

5 Train and develop non-technical skills ..................................355.1 How can this section help you? ............................................................................. 35

5.2 Understanding what to train .................................................................................. 36

5.2.1 Identifying training needs.............................................................................................................365.2.2 What is the current level of organisational understanding or interest in NTS?.........37

5.3 How to create the right environment for learning ......................................... 39

5.3.1 Managers setting expectations (before training).................................................................395.3.2 The trainer's role before the course in knowing needs of the learners.........................405.3.3 The manager's role after the intervention..............................................................................40

5.4 How can I inform leaders, managers and supervisors about NTS?.......... 41

5.5 How can I help trainers and assessors understand and maximise the effectiveness of NTS back on the job? ....................................................................... 45

5.6 How do I help front line staff relate NTS to their role? ................................ 47

5.7 Should I consider out-sourcing my training? .................................................... 48

5.7.1 An informed buyer’s guide to outsourced training..............................................................49

5.8 How can I maintain momentum after training?.............................................49

6 How do you measure non-technical skills? ..........................526.1 How can this section help you?..............................................................................52

6.2 How do I measure an individual's NTS?.............................................................52

6.2.1 What do I measure?.........................................................................................................................526.2.2 How do I measure non-technical skills? ....................................................................................53

6.3 How do I provide feedback? ...................................................................................57

6.4 Measuring the NTS of leaders, managers, supervisors, trainers and assessors ................................................................................................................................58

6.5 Overall, what are the NTS measurement dos and don'ts? ..........................59

6.5.1 Do............................................................................................................................................................596.5.2 Don't......................................................................................................................................................59

7 Revise and renew NTS integration .........................................607.1 How can this section help you?..............................................................................60

7.2 Has the programme worked and what have we learnt?...............................61

7.3 Learning from experience and incident investigation ..................................64

7.4 How to track performance over time...................................................................67

7.5 Continued support and development .................................................................68

8 Concluding comments ................................................................70

9 Bibliography....................................................................................71

A Good Practice Guide to Integrating Non-Technical Skills into Rail Safety Critical Roles

1 Introduction

1.1 What are non-technical skills?Technical skills and underpinning knowledge describe what you need to do and know for a given safety critical task. Non-technical skills (NTS) describe how you will do that task.

For example, undertaking train dispatch by platform staff, requires certain technical skills for completing the train safety check and providing the correct signal to indicate the check is complete. These also require non-technical skills such as maintaining concentration and checking.

Non-technical skills complement technical skills and underpinning knowledge and help you understand your approach to tasks, the risk and errors that can occur, and how your approach can be enhanced to mitigate against risk and errors.

In 2012 RSSB researched the role of NTS in safety critical performance and created a list of non-technical skills (Table 1), which many rail companies in GB have been integrating into their management systems. They have been selected and designed as a list of skills whose execution can all be improved through better understanding, training and development. These skills can be defined as ‘….the cognitive, social and personal resource skills that complement technical skills and contribute to safe and efficient task performance’.


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Table 1 - GB Rail Non-Technical Skills

NTS categories Skill

1. Situational awareness

1.1 Attention to detail1.2 Overall awareness1.3 Maintain concentration1.4 Retain information1.5 Anticipation of risk

2. Conscientiousness2.1 Systematic and thorough approach2.2 Checking2.3 Positive attitude towards rules and procedures

3. Communication

3.1 Listening3.2 Clarity3.3 Assertiveness3.4 Sharing information

4. Decision making and action

4.1 Effective decisions4.2 Timely decisions4.3 Diagnosing and solving problems

5. Co-operation and working with others

5.1 Considering others’ needs5.2 Supporting others5.3 Treating others with respect5.4 Dealing with conflict or aggressive behaviour

6. Workload management

6.1 Multi-tasking and selective attention6.2 Prioritising6.3 Calm under pressure

7. Self-management

7.1 Motivation7.2 Confidence and initiative7.3 Maintain and develop skills and knowledge7.4 Prepared and organised


1.2 Why develop non-technical skills?Making mistakes is inevitable but you can develop your non-technical skills to help mitigate and manage these errors. For example, a train dispatcher who is conscientious and has situational awareness will be more likely to notice threats as they occur on the platform. And if they are good at making decisions, managing workload and communicating with people they may act to effectively mitigate that threat.

Analyses of accidents in a range of safety critical industries suggests that NTS are important in helping front line safety critical staff identify, manage, mitigate and recover from threats and errors. Table 2 illustrates some benefits of NTS integration.

Table 2 - Potential benefits of NTS

Potential benefit Example evidence

Reduction in SPADs

Great Western Railway integrated NTS into its competence management system and found that SPADs reduced by 6%. SPADs at depots further reduced by 30%. Queensland Rail in Australia reported that trainee drivers who did not complete NTS training were more than twice as likely to SPAD in their first 12 months compared to those who had received the training.

Reduction in irregular working events

Network Rail reports that 33% of all irregular working events at level crossings have communications as a factor. The other two significant categories, ‘persons or vehicles being trapped’ and ‘permission to cross granted with a train still in section’, have lack of attention and poor overall awareness as a major causal factor.

Reduction in line blockage irregularities

Network Rail reports that the causes of an increase in line blockage irregularities has been directly linked to operators’ lack of attention to detail and poor communications.


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1.3 Who is this guide for?This guide is for people responsible for integrating non-technical skills into their organisation. It is for you, if you are:

Creating non-technical skills training

Identifying the right non-technical skills

Integrating these skills into the competence management system

Measuring non-technical skills

Promoting and gaining buy-in for these skills across the organisation

Reduction in incidents attributed to human error

Canadian Pacific Railway reported a 46% decrease in human-caused incidents and the lowest incident rate for Class 1 Railways in North America. Within the shipping industry, it has been reported that the introduction of NTS training was linked to a one-third reduction in major safety occurrences. Within the military aviation sector, reports suggest that the occurrence of accidents has reduced by 81% after the introduction of similar training.

Reduction in costs

Continental Airlines found ground maintenance costs were reduced by 66% following the introduction of NTS. They also found a 27% reduction in occupational injuries, which also reduced costs associated with these injuries.

Table 2 - Potential benefits of NTS

Potential benefit Example evidence


1.4 What is the purpose of the guide?This guide provides practical tips, guidance and case studies to help you:

Get people within your organisation interested in NTS, especially senior managers.

Develop a plan for integration and a business case to support this plan.

Identify the right non-technical skills for rail safety critical roles.

Integrate these skills into the selection process for these safety critical roles.

Train and measure the non-technical skills of leaders, managers, supervisors, trainers, assessors and front line staff.

Maintain the momentum of your NTS integration programme.

1.5 How can this guide help you? This guide is structured around the model in Figure 1 that illustrates the different stages of NTS integration.

Companies will be at different stages of integration and as such, you may want to read only the sections of the guide that are most relevant to your needs, or you may choose to read the guide it is entirety.


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Figure 1: A model for integrating non-technical skills into rail safety critical roles

The following matrix will also help you to decide which chapters are most relevant to your needs as it lists potential issues you may be having and guides you towards the most relevant chapters.


I want to……

1 In

trod

ucti

on

2 Pl

anni

ng

3 Id

enti

fy

4 Se

lect

ion

5 Tr

aini

ng

6 M

easu

re

7 Re

view

Know where I should start X X

Get my senior managers interested in NTS and believing it is the right thing to do

X X X

Understand what my return on investment might be

X X

Understand how ready my organisation is for NTS

X

Get people in my organisation interested in NTS and believing it will benefit them

X X X

Get the right resources to help integrate NTS

X

Know how NTS relates to a technical aspect of a role

X

Stop NTS just being a bolt on to our competence management system

X X X X X

Stop the belief that NTS is just common sense

X X X

Help leaders, managers, trainers, and assessors demonstrate the right NTS

X X X X

Prevent NTS integration increasing the workload of my supervisors, trainers and assessors

X X

Help people apply NTS in the workplace

X X X

Maintain the momentum of my NTS programme

X

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1.6 The RSSB NTS online toolkitThere is an electronic toolkit which has case studies, useful tools and guidance associated with each chapter of this guide. This can be found here: http://www.rssb.co.uk/extranet/nts-toolbox

In addition, a summary version of this guide has been produced (http://www.rssb.co.uk/improving-industry-performance/human-factors/non-technical-skills) which you can use to help promote NTS within your organisations.


http://www.rssb.co.uk/improving-industry-performance/human-factors/non-technical-skills



http://www.rssb.co.uk/extranet/nts-toolbox

http://www.rssb.co.uk/extranet/nts-toolbox

2 Planning the integration of non-technical skills

2.1 How can this section help you?To successfully integrate non-technical skills into your organisation you need people to like the idea, believe it will benefit them and the organisation, and understand how it will be done. To do this, you need people to buy in to the idea. You need to be able to describe why you think NTS should be integrated and to have a plan. This has to include how you will win over the sceptics.

This section will help you do this by providing guidance on building a project team, developing an integration strategy, and creating a business case.

The guidance is supported by items in the RSSB NTS online toolkit:

Examples of business cases and strategies

Links to guidance on change management

Conference papers and reports that illustrate the benefits of NTS, which can be used to help develop a business case

2.2 Who should be in the project team?A project team can help to formulate a plan, build the case for NTS, and then sell it to your organisation. In addition, the team can:

Gather opinions and concerns from different parts of the organisation regarding NTS integration and feed it back to you.

Provide updates on progress and successes to the wider business.

Quickly correct misinformation and/or rumours before they spread.

Provide mutual support to each other.

The team does not need to be big but should be made up of individuals who have influence within your organisation. This could include:

A director (with budgetary influence)

Senior managers, for example from Operations, Health, Safety and Environment, and Human Resources


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Supervisor(s) and front line manager(s)

Respected trainer(s) and assessor(s)

Trade Union representative(s)

Influential front line worker(s)

Attending a course on NTS, such as RSSB’s NTS course (http://www.rssb.co.uk/improving-industry-performance/human-factors/human-factors-courses/non-technical-skills-course) can help the team develop a collective understanding of NTS, the benefits it can bring, and how they can be integrated into the organisation. This knowledge can be used to help put together an integration strategy and business case.

It is also helpful to ensure that each member of the team has the skills, time, and resources to positively contribute to the project. Many project teams are set up with team members who are expected to do this work in addition to their day to day role. This often means people cannot commit an adequate amount of time to the project so this will need to be planned and accommodated in advance.

Roles and responsibilities should also be agreed. Each person needs to understand how they are expected to contribute and the level of effort that is needed from them.

2.3 How do I develop my plan?2.3.1 Why have a plan?

Integrating NTS fully into your organisation can take time and so should be seen as a medium to long-term project. Without a clear strategy, projects of this duration can lose direction and momentum, ultimately being seen as a fad that will disappear over time and will end in not realising the investment you have made, potentially increasing dis-engagement in the subject.

2.3.2 Where to start?

Focus your strategy on the risk areas in your organisation where NTS can have the biggest impact.

Examine the key areas of risk faced by your organisation. Look, for example, at accident and incident statistics and reports, your corporate risk register, risk


assessments, operational performance figures, and KPIs. You can also draw on the expertise of relevant risk, safety and operational teams.

For each risk area, consider whether non-technical skills could help mitigate the risk and if so, how. This will allow you to identify the areas where you can have the biggest impact. This could be done using a methodology such as bow-tie analysis, safety critical task analysis, or human HAZOP. You can find references for these in Section 9.

2.3.3 Is my organisation ready?

Having identified areas to focus on, think about what would be your best approach to integration. Understanding how ready your organisation is for NTS integration can help you.

For example, if your organisation is new to NTS or has limited resources, then you would expect to build a strategy that takes a phased approach to implementation. Your strategy would suggest drip feeding NTS and its benefits to employees through articles, short briefings, and booklets, for example. Then, as people start to understand and like the idea, and believe it will benefit them and the organisation, you can gradually introduce awareness training. Follow this by identifying the right NTS that relate to your identified risk areas, and integrate these into competence standards, training programmes and measurement.

Alternatively, if your organisation already understands NTS and/or has integrated them into a safety critical role (for example the driver role), a phased approach may not be needed. Instead you may want to learn the lessons from previous integration (if relevant), communicate success stories (from your organisation or similar), and then go straight into identifying the right NTS for your identified areas of risk and integrating these into competence standards, training programmes and measurement.

Integration of NTS often causes and also requires changes in attitudes and behaviours. For example, NTS encourages everybody to acknowledge the risk and challenges that you can all face. Introducing NTS can lead to open and honest discussions about these challenges and how they can be overcome.

Northern Rail completed an analysis of its incidents to understand how they occurred, the cost of these incidents, where NTS could have an impact, and the overall cost benefit of NTS integration. The analysis was used to help focus time and resources on specific areas of risk.


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Some people may not be used to this and can find such change in attitude and behaviour hard and uncomfortable. This in turn can lead to resistance or lack of buy-in and commitment.

The project team can help to identify where groups or departments of people are in general and how ready your organisation is by gathering opinions, concerns, misinformation and rumours from different parts of the organisation regarding NTS. You could also undertake a safety culture survey or employee engagement survey to further understand attitudes and opinions. This information can help you identify the challenges you will face, the type of messages you will need to communicate, and the type of integration approach you will need to take.

2.3.4 What should be in my plan?

Your strategy sets the direction of travel for your integration project. As such it can contain:

1 A summary of NTS and their benefits (see Section 1.2).

2 A statement of commitment to the development and demonstration of NTS.

3 A vision describing what success will look like, including measures of success.

4 A road map to achieve this vision, focused on your risk areas and outlining your approach to integration. It should include quick wins, short, medium, and long-term goals.

The road map should also include review points. These help you to reflect on progress, build on successes, and continually improve your approach to integration.

5 Resources needed to implement the road map and achieve the vision.

6 Roles and responsibilities of the people who will implement the road map.

7 Roles and responsibilities of everyone in the organisation who will support achievement of the vision.


Northern Rail recognised integration was a medium- to long-term programme and created an integration strategy to help the company understand why and how NTS was going to be integrated.The strategy covered:

1 Statement of commitment, by senior managers, to embed the principles of non-technical skills and human factors into the competence management system.

2 A summary of NTS and their key benefits.3 Description of how NTS will contribute to the development of a

positive and just safety culture.4 Description of the phased approach to be taken (the road map).

This included: Awareness raising through, for example, safety briefing days, training of

relevant staff, and discussion of incidents where NTS played a part and the use of NTS terminology and markers.

A programme of refresher briefings and/or on the job coaching for experienced staff to maintain awareness.

Setting NTS into standards of competence.

Incorporating NTS into selection criteria.

NTS training for managers, drivers, conductors, and other safety critical staff.

A process for discussing NTS as part of the formal assessment process. Northern Rail stated that it would not be possible for a member of staff to fail their assessment based on NTS performance alone.

Mechanisms for evaluating progress made, for example through staff feedback, the success of remedial action plans containing NTS, and the number of safety of the line incidents over time.


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2.4 How do I sell my plan to the organisation?The strategy sets direction, while the business case helps people understand why they should go in that direction. Your business case has to sell the benefits of NTS and highlight how your plan will help the organisation to achieve these.

2.4.1 Senior management commitment

A key objective of the business case is to gain senior management buy-in to NTS integration. Without this buy-in the integration project will not be successful.

To do this, aim to answer the key questions and concerns management may have. Typically, these are likely to include:

Why should I, or we, do this?

What will it cost?

2.4.1.1 Why should I do it?

NTS integration is expected to improve safety performance and is supported by the ORR. It can be difficult to illustrate improvement or benefits with specific figures. However, you can use the information in Section 1.2 to help demonstrate the safety and financial benefits of NTS. If you completed an analysis of risk areas to inform your strategy, you can use your findings to demonstrate potential areas of benefit.

If you decide to use your own figures it is useful to consider areas such as:

Potential reduction in accidents and incidents related to human error

Improvements in performance

Potential cost reduction associated with these incidents

Potential reputational improvements associated with reducing incidents and accidents and improving the customer experience

It is also worth highlighting the less tangible benefits of NTS integration. These are harder to link to the bottom line, but are still very important. For example, effective NTS integration can lead to staff who have enhanced knowledge, skills and attitudes, and are more engaged and motivated. This may improve operational performance, lower staff turnover and reduce staff sickness.


2.4.1.2 What will it cost?

NTS integration is a medium- to long-term programme and there will be a range of costs that may include:

Promotional materials

Developing familiarisation sessions and training sessions, administration and use of training facilities

Release of staff to be part of the project team

Release of staff to facilitate learning and staff to attend sessions

Time and effort by supervisors and managers to ebbed NTS into the workplace

The business case should clearly outline the expected costs and resources. It should also show how NTS can reduce costs; for example, by reducing incidents and accidents and these will help to describe the overall cost benefit. These costs on resources should be linked to your plan, for example, some years or quarters may have more expenditure associated with them than others. Section 1.2 of this guide contains example NTS cost benefits.

2.4.2 Wider business

Once you have senior management commitment the rest of the business needs to be brought into the idea of integrating NTS.

Use your business case to help people understand why integration is important, while the strategy can help them understand how it will happen.

People at different levels within your organisation will want to know different things (examples are provided in Table 3). So you will need to tailor your messages and communications.


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In addition, the following can help you to communicate effectively to the wider business.

2.4.2.1 Champions

Involve enthusiastic ‘champions’ who can spread the word regarding the benefits of NTS integration and also demonstrate the NTS you want to develop. These should come from different levels of the organisation and do not necessarily need to be people in authority but should be well respected and good influencers.

Table 3 - Example questions people may ask

Grade Potential questions to answer

Middle managers

What do I need to do? How will it help me improve performance? What resources will I need and what will be the benefit? Who in the company is supporting this?

Front line managers and supervisors

How will this help me manage my staff? How much of my time will it take? What do I need to learn and do? Who will help me?

TrainersHow will this be used in training? Will this make our training better? Will I need training?

Assessors

How will this link to competence assessment? How will I actually measure NTS? Will it make things better? How do I talk about NTS after the assessment?

Front line staff

How will this help me? Will this increase my work? Don’t I do this anyway? What support will I get?Is this another fad?


2.4.2.2 Create ownership

Engage staff, through communications, briefings and awareness workshops, so they feel part of the integration project, as opposed to feeling that integration is something being done to them.

2.4.2.3 Multiple methods

Use a range of different communication methods. Think about the type of people you are communicating with and the types of messages you want to express. Examples could include:

Posters, leaflets, and booklets

Company magazine articles, highlighting examples of where NTS have been applied and successfully mitigated a safety risk

Web pages and video clips

Safety briefing days, awareness raising workshops including case studies, or inviting staff to talk about their experience of NTS

Flash mobs

Informal discussions and chats instigated by champions. Examples of these from other companies can be found in the RSSB NTS online toolkit.

2.4.2.4 Demonstrable commitment

The project team, senior managers and champions should demonstrate commitment to the integration project through their behaviour, decisions and communications to staff, both formally and informally. NTS self-assessment questionnaires could be used to help the project team, senior managers and champions reflect on their own NTS. An example questionnaire can be found, in the RSSB NTS online toolkit.


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3 Identify non-technical skills

3.1 How can this section help you? When trying to identify which NTS are important for a technical task, it can often feel as though all the skills are relevant, making it hard to determine the right ones for any given task or role. This section will help you to understand how to identify the right NTS for technical tasks using the principles of Risk Based Training Needs Analysis.

The guidance is supported by these items contained in the RSSB NTS online toolkit:

Introductory slides to Risk Based Training Needs Analysis (RBTNA) and the RSSB RBTNA Tool.

Link to the RBTNA Tool.

RBTNA Tool user guide. This provides more information on developing task inventories, mapping NTS and prioritising tasks. It also tells you how to use the RSSB RBTNA tool.

Selected conference papers on Risk Based Training Needs Analysis.


3.2 How do I determine which NTS are relevant? Figure 2 illustrates a simple process for helping you determine which NTS are relevant. Each stage of the process is described in further detail below.

Figure 2: Process for determining which NTS are relevant

3.2.1 Identify your technical tasks

Before starting to map NTS, create a task inventory by listing out all the tasks needed for the role, covering:

1 Tasks that are carried out day-to-day under normal operating conditions

2 Tasks completed during degraded working

3 Tasks completed during emergency situations

Tasks can then be organised into goals, which are headings for a group of tasks. For example, you may have a goal of dispatch train under which you


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would list the tasks required to achieve this goal. You can see an example of this, for the train driver role, in Figure 3.

If you want, goals can be chronologically ordered to reflect a typical day in the life of the job holder.

Job descriptions, procedures, industry standards, National Occupational Standards, competence standards, job holders and other subject matter experts can be used to help identify the relevant tasks.

If you already have a task inventory, it can be helpful to review it using the guidance above so you are happy that it reflects the right technical tasks for the role.

3.2.2 Map NTS to your technical tasks

3.2.2.1 Prioritising

If you have a long list of tasks it can be helpful to prioritise these. Focus first on the tasks that have either a high safety risk and/or place a high demand on the job holder. For example, tasks that may be difficult to learn or carry out, or that are done less often, with the result that people may forget some of the actions. Figure 3 shows an example of task prioritisation using the RBTNA template.


21ting Non-Technical Skills into Rail Safety Critical Roles

Figure 3: Example RBTNA task inventory and prioritisation matrix

RSSB | A Good Practice Guide to Integra

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3.2.2.2 Sources of data

You may also want to collect relevant information from your near miss, close call, incident and accident reporting, and investigation systems. These can help you determine if there are common, recurring issues that relate to NTS.

You can also use information generated from Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) investigations.

Investigated incidents cover a range of safety critical roles and operational environments, often drawing out information that is relevant to non-technical skills.

Finally, you can also draw on the combined knowledge of subject matter experts, such as job holders, managers, assessors and trainers, to work through the task inventory, and determine which NTS are required for effective and safe performance of each task.

RSSB completed a review of SPADs to highlight the main errors and underlying factors that contribute to these incidents. Common human errors associated with SPADS included action, memory and perception slips or lapses.

The RAIB investigation into the trap and drag incident, involving a DOO (p) train at West Wickham (10th April 2015) highlighted the relevance of several non-technical skills in dispatch, namely: Situational Awareness: attention to detail, overall awareness,

anticipation of risk, maintaining concentration

Conscientiousness: systematic and thorough approach, and checking

Decision making: effective decisions and timely decisions

Co-operation and working with others: considering other’s needs

Workload management: multi-tasking, selective attention and prioritising


3.2.2.3 Task type

To make the mapping process easier consider the type of task you are looking at and the typical areas of risk and challenges of that task. Consider which NTS are needed to overcome these challenges and mitigate the risk.

Some examples include:

Example task: Finding faults during a routine wheel inspection.

Task type: Observing or noticing information

Risk and challenges: Distracted, not paying attention or rushing. They may make an error and potentially miss a fault.

Relevant NTS: Elements of situational awareness (such as attention to detail, overall awareness, and maintaining concentration) and conscientiousness (such as systematic and thorough approach, and checking).


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Example task: Authorising a shunt move.

Task type: Making a judgement or decision about what to do.

Risk and challenges: Does not fully understand the procedures, or does not have all the right information, they may make the wrong decision.

Relevant NTS: Elements of conscientiousness (such as positive attitudes towards rules and procedures) and decision making (such as effective decisions and timely decisions).

You can also consider whether the conditions under which the task is being completed change the NTS needed. In some cases, goals and tasks may appear to be similar but are carried out in different conditions. For example, train dispatch under normal conditions requires slightly different NTS than under degraded operations.

In an emergency situation, all the skills related to situational awareness and workload management are likely to be relevant. In these circumstances tasks are often done under pressure, where the situation is continually changing and many actions may need to be done at the same time.

Finally, some NTS are always going to be relevant to some degree, such as the skills associated with workload management and self-management. Individuals will find it hard to complete their tasks safety and efficiently if they are unable to manage their workload and/or themselves.

You can use the RSSB RBTNA tool to help prioritise tasks based on safety risk and task demand; and to map NTS by task type. Also pages 17 to 21 of the RBTNA user guide, which you can find in the RSSB NTS online toolkit, provide a set of tables to guide you through the process of determining task types and then assigning NTS to these.

3.2.3 Review and finalise your mapping and prioritisation

Once you have completed the mapping, review all aspects. Be sure that the tasks, prioritisation, and mapping reflect the true nature and scope of the role in your company. And that you have included all the company- and operation-specific areas of risk and challenges staff will face carrying out these tasks. Two examples are shown in Figure 4.


Figure 4: Examples of completing NTS mapping and prioritisation using an adapted RBTNA template

3.3 How do I integrate NTS into my competence standards?3.3.1 Why integrate?

Competence standards will more often than not describe the level of competence needed to carry out tasks safely, effectively, reliably and in line with company procedures (statements of performance). They may also include the underpinning knowledge and technical skills needed to achieve this level of competence (performance criteria).

Integrating your NTS mapping into these competence standards means you are able to create standards that describe the underpinning knowledge, technical, and non-technical skills needed to achieve defined levels of competence.

This has a number of benefits:


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1 As these standards inform selection, training, and assessment, NTS will be better integrated into these aspects of the competence management system.

2 You can start to define different levels of expertise such as 'competent', 'proficient', and 'expert', which can help foster a culture of learning and development.

3 It brings NTS to life and helps job holders, trainers, assessors, front line managers and others understand how NTS relate to technical tasks.

3.3.2 What are my options?

3.3.2.1 Standalone NTS performance criteria

One option is to have NTS as a standalone set of criteria, either one set for the entire standard or a set of criteria for each statement of performance. The latter means that for each statement of performance within the standard there will be the relevant NTS, alongside the defined technical skills and underpinning knowledge.

This option is less time consuming, using the information generated from your NTS mapping. You determine which mapped goals and tasks are associated with each statement of performance and then identify the common NTS mapped to these goals and tasks. This will give you a set of NTS for each statement of performance.

This option also allows job holders, trainers, assessors, front line managers and others to distinguish between underpinning knowledge and the technical and non-technical skills needed to achieve defined levels of competence. This can be useful as each of these can be trained and measured in different ways.

However, the downside is that this type of integration can create the perception that NTS is a bolt-on to existing criteria. An example of a standalone unit and a semi-integrated competence standard can be found in Figure 5.


Figure 5: Examples of a standalone and semi-integrated competence standards


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3.3.2.2 Re-wording existing performance criteria

Another option is to reword existing performance criteria so they combine underpinning knowledge, technical and non-technical skills, to describe behaviours and actions needed to achieve and demonstrate the level of competence required.

For example, if the statement of performance is ‘safe access/egress on or near the line’ re-worded criteria could include:

Consistently applies correct rules and procedures, showing an understanding of why they are appropriate. For example, uses official walking routes.

Anticipates what hazards could occur, and constantly on the lookout for dangers. For example, takes the safest walking route, faces oncoming trains where possible.

Shows heightened alertness and vigilance, takes an unhurried, systematic and thorough approach, checks information and actions. For example, identifies Sectional Appendix glossary for type of running line, direction of travel, and maximum speed.

Re-worded criteria can use NTS language and be based on the relevant behavioural markers that accompany each of the 26 NTS. You can find these behavioural markers in the RSSB NTS online toolkit.

This option allows NTS to be fully integrated into existing performance criteria, helping to demonstrate how NTS contributes to performance and the explicit link between technical tasks and non-technical skills.

The downside to this option is that it can take some time to re-write the criteria and it can increase the length of performance criteria.

3.3.3 Which option to choose?

It is important for you to consider each option. Bear in mind the pros and cons and the current level of understanding and support for NTS within your organisation. As part of planning for NTS integration you will have developed a feeling and understanding of how ready your organisation is for NTS, which will help you decide which option is most appropriate.


4 Integrating non-technical skills into selection

4.1 How can this section help you?The application of non-technical skills helps individuals undertake technical tasks safely efficiently and reliably. As such, these skills along with other behavioural preferences and aptitudes can often be important determinants of job performance. They can help differentiate the very good performers from those less strong. If you recruit the right people into a role, development and improvement become easier.

To do this, you need to understand who the ‘right people’ are. Integrating NTS into your selection criteria will help identify the people who have the potential to perform well in the role. These are used in conjunction with selection tests which focus on selecting people with the innate capability or preference related to key safety critical aspects of the role. This section will help you to understand how to do this. It uses the current Train Driver Psychometric Selection Process, from Rail Industry Standard 3571-TOM, as an example.

The guidance is supported by these items in the RSSB NTS online toolkit:

Link to the Rail Industry Standard 3571-TOM

Selected conferences papers on the development of the Train Driver Psychometric Selection Process

Links to RSSB research undertaken to develop the Train Driver Psychometric Selection Process.


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4.2 How do I integrate NTS into selection criteria?4.2.1 Consider existing knowledge of staff

Before reviewing selection criteria you need to know if the staff responsible for setting policy on recruitment and selection are aware of NTS and how these skills support performance.

You may need to spend time helping them understand what NTS are, how they relate to technical tasks, the benefits of NTS, and why they should be considered in selection. This guide, the RSSB NTS online toolkit, as well as your NTS integration strategy and business case can help you do this.

4.2.2 Compare selection criteria to your NTS mapping

Identify the selection criteria for the chosen role and ensure you have completed the NTS mapping for that role in line with the guidance provided in Section 3. Now you can compare the selection criteria to your NTS mapping, identifying the extent to which the criteria reflect the NTS needed to carry out the role safely, efficiently, and reliably.

When making this comparison focus only on the critical skills required for the role. For example, the selection criteria for the Train Driver Psychometric Process represents only the safety and time critical skills and behaviours to be demonstrated at all times while driving a train.

Prioritising tasks, by safety risk, across modes of operation (normal, degraded and emergency, see Section 3.2.2.1) will help you to determine critical skills. The RSSB RBTNA can help you with this. Ask job holders and subject matter experts to review your prioritisation before you compare the selection criteria to your NTS mapping.

4.2.3 Make improvements where necessary

You can use your comparison to identify where NTS are suitably reflected and where improvements are needed.

Often selection criteria can consist of critical cognitive skills (such as attention, memory and perception) and behavioural preferences or aptitudes (such as working with others and self-management). You can draw on the NTS behavioural markers to think about behavioural preferences or aptitudes you may want to include within your criteria.


To help consider the cognitive skills that may affect the demonstration of the NTS you want to incorporate into the selection criteria, think about the type of task the NTS is associated with (see Section 3.2.2.3). For example, two critical non-technical skills for safe train driving are maintain concentration (Situational Awareness category) and checking (Conscientiousness category). Both are affected by an individual’s ability to demonstrate a basic level of vigilance.

As such one of the selection criteria for the Train Driver Psychometric Process is vigilance, which is defined as: The ability to attend and respond to stimuli which occur relatively infrequently and over extended periods of time.

Table 4 gives further examples of how non-technical skills have been incorporated into selection criteria for the Train Driver Psychometric Process in RIS-3751-TOM. Each of the selection criteria is described at a high level and is defined to help duty holders and candidates understand what is being assessed.

.Table 4 - Examples of how non-technical skills have been incorporated into

selection criteria for the Train Driver Psychometric Process as outlined in RIS-3751-TOM

NTS category and skills

Selection criteria

Definition

Situational Awareness – attention to detail (1.1)Workload management - multi-tasking and selective attention (6.1)

Attention

Selective attention - The ability to differentiate between different sources of information and attend selectively to themDivided attention - The ability to switch attention between sources of information

Situational Awareness – maintain concentration (1.3) Conscientiousness - systematic and thorough approach (2.1) and checking (2.2)

Vigilance

The ability to attend and respond to stimuli which occur relatively infrequently and over extended periods of time.


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Situational Awareness – retain information (1.4)

MemoryThe ability to learn, recall and apply job related information in appropriate time limits

Decision making and action – effective decisions (4.1), timely decisions (4.2) and diagnosing and solving problems (4.3)

ReasoningThe ability to solve problems and make decisions.

Reaction time

A quick and adequate response to simple and complex visual and acoustic stimuli and the associated quality of performance

Situational Awareness - overall awareness (1.2) and anticipation of risk (1.5)

Perception

The ability to anticipate elements in a traffic environment and make a correct decision about how to respond given the speed and distances involved

Communication – listening (3.1), clarity (3.2) and sharing information (3.4)

Communi-cation

The ability to read, listen, understand and respond appropriately, and effectively convey information orally and in writing.

Conscientiousness (all skills – 2.1 to 2.3)Co-operation and work with others (all skills - 5.1 to 5.4)Self-management (all skills – 7.1 to 7.4)

Behavioural aptitudes

No established occupational psychological deficiencies, particularly in operational aptitudes or any relevant personality factor.

Table 4 - Examples of how non-technical skills have been incorporated into selection criteria for the Train Driver Psychometric Process as outlined in RIS-3751-

TOM

NTS category and skills

Selection criteria

Definition


4.3 How do I measure NTS in selection?There are many approaches which relate to or contain references to NTS, such as psychometric assessments, personality measures, structured interviews, unstructured interviews, group activities, and work sample tests.

All measures have different pros, cons, and purposes. For example, psychometric assessments can be useful to measure the cognitive skills that can affect the demonstration of NTS such reasoning, attention and vigilance. Structured interviews and personality measures such as situational judgement exercises can be used to measure NTS such as co-operation and working with others, communication, conscientiousness and self-management. To help you pick suitable measures, think about the considerations in Table 5 and how you could apply the advice.

Table 5 - Things to consider when picking suitable selection methods for NTS

Consideration Advice

What am I assessing?

Methods should always be matched to the criteria being assessed. You can also check with the test publisher to understand the method’s construct validity – the specific constructs or elements that the method assesses.

What standard of performance do I expect?

Your methods and associated pass marks should match the expected ability of the candidate pool. You do not want to pick methods that are too easy or too hard. For example, candidate train drivers need to demonstrate a minimum standard on each of the safety- and time-critical abilities and behaviours that are assessed. This will screen out potentially unsafe candidates.

How many methods should I use?

Ideally, it is best to assess each safety- and time-critical ability and behaviour using more than one method.

How reliable and fair is the method?

You should pick methods that produce results that are stable over a period of time and do not discriminate against people by, for example, age, gender, or ethnicity. The test publisher should be able to provide this information.


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Finally, it is helpful to review your selection criteria and methods at regular intervals. They should reflect the critical skills required for the role, which may change over time. Use these reviews to further integrate NTS into your selection criteria.

How do scores relate to job performance?

You should pick methods that have a demonstrated link to job performance in the role you are selecting for. The test publisher should be able to provide this information.

What training will my company need to use the method?

Some methods may require detailed training before they can be administered while others can be used by novices. You should consider the competence of staff involved in selection and also their available time for additional training if required.

How much does it cost?

Tests vary in cost and this can be influenced by the level of assessment and type of output provided by the method. For example, the cost of personality measures can vary depending on the type of detail you require in the output report. You should therefore consider the level of assessment and reporting you think is reasonable along with the amount of money you think your company would consider acceptable to spend.

How long does it take?

You should consider the amount of time available to assess candidates as well as the impact long assessments can have on candidates’ performance and perception of the company.

Should I use on-line or paper based?

Tests are often available in paper based and on-line format. Online can make it easier to administer and scoring can be automated. However, on-line assessment can bring security issues, while in some cases on-line tests do not demonstrate the same level of validity as their paper based equivalent. You should discuss these with the test publisher before making a decision.

Table 5 - Things to consider when picking suitable selection methods for NTS

Consideration Advice


5 Train and develop non-technical skills

5.1 How can this section help you?As part of your NTS integration programme you are going to need to think about how you'll train or brief out NTS to help clarify or improve people's knowledge, ensure staff get the right message, and help them develop their NTS performance.

Because knowledge, technical skills, and non-technical skills are so closely related, it makes sense to train them together. Ideally they should blend together to illustrate how they interlink. The RSSB NTS course encourages participants to think about NTS in the context of their working lives and technical tasks. Similarly, technical training courses could encourage staff in safety critical roles to think about their tasks in the context of NTS.

This section will help you to decide:

What to include in your training courses or briefings. Different levels of staff and roles will have different training needs.

How to consider different levels of organisational readiness in terms of your training.

How to create the right environment to promote learning.

What your trainers or assessors need to be aware of once NTS is included in your CMS.

How to help front line staff relate NTS to their roles through training.

Whether to run your training yourself or to out-source it.

How to maintain the momentum and interest in your programme once training has started.

The guidance is supported by these items contained in the RSSB NTS online toolkit:

Models of training, including the RSSB NTS courses.

NTS self-evaluation questionnaires.

Example techniques to improve NTS, such as risk triggered commentary.


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5.2 Understanding what to trainThe content of your training course should be based on a training needs analysis (TNA) or the RBTNA. Competence and the safe performance of tasks in rail safety critical staff roles require functional skills, under-pinning knowledge, technical skills, and non-technical skills. How you get this across, what methods you use, whether you link NTS into the technical training, is up to you.

For example, you can use NTS language in technical training programmes. When training a technical task, rule, or procedure, discuss the NTS that underpin this task. Using this training methodology will stop NTS being seen as a bolt on. Also talk about human performance limitations, how people make mistakes or choose to violate rules and what can be done. This can help highlight how NTS, technical skills and underpin knowledge interact and affect performance (positively and negatively).

Training and development does not always need to be done in the classroom. A range of training and development methods can be used to make the most of adult learning principles and create a positive and interesting learning environment.

5.2.1 Identifying training needs

It's important to begin by understanding who you want to train, where your staff are now, and what you want them to be able to do after the training. A TNA can help you to identify and address the gaps in the current level of knowledge and understanding of NTS, what you want your staff to understand or be able to do, the skills that need to be trained, how they are trained and what medium could be used for this. This will mean that the training course will be most suitable for your company and for those roles you are aiming the training at.

The output of a TNA will help to define the training course content and requirements in terms of:

The format of training

Training requirements based on performance demand of the task

The best approach for training, development and assessment

It's likely your company will have a format for a TNA, or you could use the RBTNA described in Section 3. The additional benefit of using the RBTNA is that it helps you to:


RSSB | A

Prioritise training requirements based on the safety risk associated with task failure

Automatically populate NTS skills to technical tasks

Consider a range of different training options

5.2.2 What is the current level of organisational understanding or interest in NTS?

Following on from Section 2.3.3 which discussed indicators of organisational readiness for NTS integration, this section considers readiness in terms of training. Gauging your company's level of understanding and readiness for NTS can be done through informal discussions, at meetings, through your champions or with individuals to assess their knowledge or capabilities around NTS.

Different people or different roles could be at different levels, so you may need to tailor your training accordingly. The output of the TNA will give the detail of what to train and how to train it. You can use the guidance in Table 6 to see where your organisation is in terms of its corporate understanding. This could also guide you to what to consider when structuring the training or briefing. This guidance describes three development levels and the suitable topics and training approaches to promote improved understanding.

Table 6 - Three development levels and the suitable topics and training approaches to promote improved understanding

Development level

Areas to develop Rationale

Level 1. Beginner

Develop knowledge of: What NTS are How NTS and technical

tasks are linked How NTS can help

promote safe performance

How NTS have helped other industries to improve

At this level, the training is likely to be theoretical and classroom based, focussing on improving knowledge on what NTS is (and is not) and promoting a level of interest or motivation to explore NTS.

Good Practice Guide to Integrating Non-Technical Skills into Rail Safety CriticalRoles

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Level 2. Intermediate

Develop knowledge of: Why people make

mistakes How NTS map to the

Action Model Differences between

errors and violations Own NTS capabilities Each NTS category in

detail How NTS can be built

into training and assessment

At this level the training is likely to be based more on discussions and promoting knowledge development and thinking about how NTS can be applied in a real work environment. This can be classroom based or can involve observation of other colleagues carrying out tasks or reflection in the workplace on their own capabilities.

Level 3. Advanced

Develop knowledge of: NTS development plans Identification of specific

strategies to improve individual NTS

How NTS can improve competence management (the CMS)

Understanding how NTS performance leads to or prevents accidents and incidents

At this level, your staff will have a good understanding of NTS and how to apply this understanding to their own or to other’s experiences. Their training could focus on the application of their knowledge in different operational contexts. This can be an evaluation of NTS, analysis and critique of investigations and the suggestions of how NTS performance could have affected the outcome either positively or negatively.

Table 6 - Three development levels and the suitable topics and training approaches to promote improved understanding

Development level

Areas to develop Rationale


5.3 How to create the right environment for learningRegardless of the level of capability, the environment in which training and learning takes place is vital to the success of any training programme. These three management factors have the biggest impact on how well learning is transferred from the classroom to the working environment:

1 The learner's manager in setting expectations before the course

2 The trainer's role before the course in getting to know the needs of the learners

3 The manager's role after the intervention

These factors highlight how important it is that your managers have the right level of awareness of NTS and how the way in which managers talk about the course in advance and after the course will have an effect.

There are other factors to consider which relate to the learner such as their motivation and ownership of learning. These are discussed in chapters 5 and 6 of the RSSB RS800 guide (http://www.rssb.co.uk/rgs/standards/RS800%20Iss%201.pdf) and in Section 2.2 of the RSSB RS100 good practise guide on Competence Management (http://www.rssb.co.uk/rgs/standards/RS100%20Iss%201.pdf).

5.3.1 Managers setting expectations (before training)

The learner's line manager affects how well the training is carried back to the job. They need to set positive expectations in terms of the importance of NTS and the benefits. Therefore it is important to consider how well prepared your managers are for this, so consideration should be given to:

How well informed are your managers? Do they require briefing or training on NTS to enable them to speak in a positive and informed way about the training? Have you considered what questions they might be asked by attendees and made sure the managers know how to answer these?

What are your managers' attitudes towards NTS? Do they believe it adds value and that NTS training will make a positive impact? Or do they see it as common sense or psycho-babble? The attitude they have is likely to come across in the way they talk to their staff attending the course.

You should consider briefing or training managers in advance of their staff attending the training, to help them promote a positive attitude and explain


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http://www.rssb.co.uk/rgs/standards/RS800%20Iss%201.pdf




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the importance of them setting expectations with their staff before the course.

5.3.2 The trainer's role before the course in knowing needs of the learners

The level of understanding that the trainer has of the needs of the learners before the course, can impact on how well it is transferred back to the workplace. The more trainers know of the capabilities and levels of understanding of the trainees, the more relevant and targeted they can make the training and improve the transfer of training back to the workplace. Consideration for upskilling trainers to be able to do this are:

Understanding of current capabilities: an analysis of the levels of understanding could be undertaken before training takes place. This could be in the form of the self-evaluation questionnaire (see NTS tool box) or design an alternative method.

Familiarisation with NTS associated with technical tasks: trainers should be familiar with the NTS which are required for successful completion of the technical tasks. The training needs analysis should specify these while materials (and training) given to the trainers should highlight these.

5.3.3 The manager's role after the intervention

You need to consider what you expect your managers to be able to say, do, or promote after their staff have been on the training. As NTS development is based on coaching, self-reflection and conversations, it is important to make time for managers to have the skills and time to do this. Without the right skills, attitude, and time to have these conversations, you may not get the return of investment that you have made and so you may not get the desired change.

The success of training is also dependent upon the learner's attitude and willingness to take ownership of his or her development. This is particularly important with NTS as they require open-mindedness and for the learners themselves to be able to identify areas to be improved and strategies which they can use to achieve this.


5.4 How can I inform leaders, managers and supervisors about NTS?Leaders, managers and supervisors can all set the tone and will influence the motivation of employees to engage in NTS. They also play a key role 'back on the job' in reinforcing the messages of the training through their feedback and measurement sessions with staff.

So, it is important that they know how to effectively observe, and give feedback on, NTS. This may involve upskilling (see case study from SouthEastern) or sharing with them the RSSB managers' handbook (contained in the RSSB NTS online toolkit).


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SouthEastern considered how to maximise the effectiveness and sustainability of their NTS programme. They decided to start by training their Driver Managers and Operations Managers first, before training any drivers. They believed that these managers played a key role in both getting buy in from staff and in maintaining the momentum for the programme as they are a key link between the managers above them and the front line staff. They need to be able to understand the needs and concerns of their drivers as well as needing to ‘translate’ the requirements of senior managers.To do this they ran an NTS awareness course for their managers and followed this up with a second day of training on managerial skills. They held the second day as they realised that much of NTS development requires managers being able to build rapport and engage with their staff, and to be more flexible in their managerial style. They identified that their managers had not been given this training previously. ‘We thought carefully about how we could get the best out of our NTS training and who we should prioritise as we could not train everyone at the same time. We decided to start by training our Operations and Driver Managers first, because they needed to have the knowledge and skills to be able to describe to their drivers why NTS was important and to help the Drivers to be motivated and interested in it. We decided to ask RSSB to run a two day course for us, based on: An introduction to NTS

A more detailed understanding of each NTS category and skill

An introductory exercise on integrating NTS into our competence standards

Introduction to measurement and evaluation of NTS

We had some good feedback on this and the operations and driver managers felt much clearer and more confident in their capabilities to describe NTS after this training. We then followed it a few weeks later with some general management skills training in factors like communications, coaching skills and conflict management as we identified these were key skills they needed to both be good managers and to maximise the effectiveness of discussions around NTS.’ Jim Maxwell, Head of Drivers, SouthEastern trains


Table 7 lists the knowledge, skills and attitudes (KSA) that leaders, managers, and supervisors should have to support the development of NTS.

You can suggest the NTS self-assessment questionnaire in the RSSB NTS online toolkit as a way for them to identify and quantify their own NTS.

Table 7 - Leaders’, managers’ and supervisors’ KSAs needed to support the development of NTS

Knowledge, skills, attitudes Further explanation

Know

ledg

e

Knowledge of what the NTS categories and skills are and their relevance to the role

Explains what each NTS is and how this relates to their staff’s role.

Knowledge of how NTS is evaluated, what managers need to do and what should be documented and how

Can consistently document their staff’s NTS performance and development using company forms.

Skill

s

Self-awareness

Shows awareness of own communication style and is able to describe their own areas of NTS challenges and positive performance.

Objective observationObjectively evaluates their staff’s NTS without being prone to bias.

Prepared and organisedCan provide clear, well-documented and well-structured feedback on NTS performance.

Good listener

Through active listening, shows that they are keen to understand others’ rationale for NTS performance. Gives staff space and encouragement to discuss NTS performance and strategies to improve.


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The RSSB NTS Train the Trainer (TTT) course for managers can be used to train leaders, managers and supervisors. The course consists of modules that explore the importance of these roles, and how to effectively observe, measure, promote, and give feedback on, NTS.

http://www.rssb.co.uk/improving-industry-performance/human-factors/human-factors-courses/non-technical-skills-course

Skill

s, c

ont.

Clarity of communication

Can describe their reason for NTS evaluation and areas for improvement, without jargon so that they can be understood by others.

FlexibleAdapts their own communication and feedback styles to the individual they are working with.

Motivational skillsCan motivate others to be engaged with NTS and to perform tasks safely, across a range of staff.

AssertivenessProvides feedback in a constructive way if a challenge is given to them on their evaluation.

Att

itude

Positive approach to NTS and keen to promote their relevance and value

Demonstrates commitment to promoting the importance of NTS and the value they add.

Keen to contribute to the ongoing development of NTS within the organisation

Demonstrates management commitment to developing the NTS of their staff and promoting NTS within the organisation.

Takes a learning approach to mistakes

Treats incidents or errors as an opportunity for others to learn from rather than blaming someone.

Table 7 - Leaders’, managers’ and supervisors’ KSAs needed to support the development of NTS

Knowledge, skills, attitudes Further explanation




5.5 How can I help trainers and assessors understand and maximise the effectiveness of NTS back on the job?NTS needs a different attitude to assessment than that used in technical assessments. The term assessment infers a pass or fail outcome, which is not appropriate for NTS development. People should not be failed on the NTS alone. During an assessment, someone could fail a technical task such as 'Safely dispatching train on a curved platform', and one of these reasons could be related to NTS performance '2.2 Checking'.

People should only fail on the technical task. The NTS may be raised as one of the reasons for this. However, they should not fail at the NTS task of 'Checking' alone. This is a view endorsed by the Unions at the outset of the NTS research and is in line with good practise from other safety critical industries.

It is important that trainers and assessors are well briefed on the requirements for this and the expectations on them.

Trainers and assessors need the right skills and attitudes to approach NTS objectively. Not doing so could significantly limit the effectiveness of training and evaluations of NTS, especially during a measurement session and at the stage of giving feedback.

Trainers and assessors must be given the time and opportunity to have:

A good understanding of the NTS categories and skills, and a basic knowledge of human factors and the impacts of human performance.

A good understanding of the concept, content and use of behavioural markers appropriate to the role, and their use in objectively measuring NTS performance.

The ability to use appropriate questioning and feedback methods to support understanding and development of NTS performance.

An assessment style and attitude which includes coaching, and facilitates rapport building, open and honest discussions, participation and engagement. They must be able to motivate individuals to want to improve and to make them want to contribute to discussions and development of their competence.


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A good knowledge of the technical aspect of the role(s) of the people they train and/or assess. To build credibility and trust, they should, ideally, have occupational experience of this role themselves.

A positive belief in the value of NTS. Trainers and assessors play a key role in communicating the importance of and motivating staff to embrace NTS. If the trainer and/or assessor is negative, overtly sceptical, or unenthusiastic, staff are unlikely to be motivated and this may increase resistance. Trainers and assessors need to show a positive attitude, good knowledge of NTS, and empathy with individuals' perspectives.

An awareness of the company's wider strategy for NTS, so they can answer questions on the topic and set discussions within the wider context.

The KSAs described in Table 7 are applicable to trainers and assessors, while the RSSB NTS managers' course can be used to help train NTS trainers and assessors.

You can find more information in the RSSB Good Practice Guide on Competence Development RS/100 (http://www.rssb.co.uk/rgs/standards/RS100%20Iss%201.pdf).

Tips for developing trainers and assessors from Arriva Trains Wales: It takes some time for trainers and assessors to really understand NTS.

As well as the basic concept, they need to understand NTS to a point where they can deliver an NTS course that really adds some context in terms of the participants' role.

Another challenge for trainers and assessors is being able to have enough personal understanding of NTS to coach, challenge and probe a participant's level of understanding.

Trainers and assessors should be prepared to act as future support for both managers and front line staff as they will be seen as an 'authority' on NTS




RSSB | A

5.6 How do I help front line staff relate NTS to their role?Whenever you introduce change, you will find some staff are positive, and others will be negative. To reduce negativity and scepticism around NTS, it's important to be honest and open about what NTS are and how they can help people to develop their roles and themselves. Sceptical staff will think NTS are psycho-babble, a dark art, or just common sense. So you will need to consider how you can overcome these challenges and factor this into the way in which you brief or train your front line staff.

To help break down any barriers and increase engagement in the NTS programme, whatever form of training or briefing you choose, to help them relate NTS to their role, they should be able to understand:

The areas of risk in their role

How NTS can help

How NTS supports technical tasks

The RSSB front line NTS course (available in the RSSB NTS online toolkit) gives an example of how this can be done, but these factors can be integrated into any training course. Consideration will also need to be given to the different risks posed by different levels of experience. For example:

Inexperienced staff may be less aware of the risk involved in different operational situations.

More experienced staff may become be overconfident or complacent and this can affect their perception of risk.

Additional guidance on training development can be found RSSB Good Practice Guide on Competence Development RS/100 (http://www.rssb.co.uk/rgs/standards/RS100%20Iss%201.pdf).

Good Practice Guide to Integrating Non-Technical Skills into Rail Safety CriticalRoles

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5.7 Should I consider out-sourcing my training? This depends on your organisation, their buy-in, investment and training strategy. There are positives and negatives for out-sourcing your training and these need to be considered before making a substantial outlay. Table 8 and Table 9 shows some considerations.

Table 8 - In house training

Positive Negative

Greater control over messages givenRelies on positive attitude and acceptance from staff

Upskilling staffIncreased workload and training need for trainers and assessors

Cultural change in competence management and/or safety culture

Trainers and assessors may be more used to instruction based training and may not have the necessary facilitation and coaching skills

Table 9 - Outsource training

Positive Negative

Reduced workload for internal staff Greater cost

Clear specification of requirementsNo opportunity for investment in internal staff or their development

Perceived investment in staff (by staff themselves)

The procurement process can be resource intensive

Staff may find it easier to be open, honest and more communicative with someone from outside their organisation

Staff may feel that someone from outside the organisation does not understand how the industry and/or organisation works

Internal staff can learn from sitting in with external trainers

Internal staff may not get the chance to develop the skills required to deliver the training in house


5.7.1 An informed buyer’s guide to outsourced training

If you are given the opportunity or decide to buy in your NTS training you may want to consider the following when searching for a contractor or consultant to undertake the work.

They use a well-founded methodology for identifying NTS relevant to your operations, for example the RSSB list of NTS (or Network Rail's if you're looking at control centre type staff).

There is a focus on all NTS within the list, not just a sample related to one aspect of the job.

They show an interest in your RBTNA or TNA and write training materials to fit this.

They come with a positive recommendation on effectiveness from other rail or safety-related companies.

They link the training to an evaluation or assessment of the effectiveness of their training.

They understand the differences in operational roles and can define the NTS and behavioural markers relevant to specific roles.

They have a focus on establishing and maintaining a good working relationship with your company.

Their training involves practical exercises and use a blended learning approach to training.

5.8 How can I maintain momentum after training? NTS training and development is not a 'quick fix' and will take time to be understood and accepted by all staff.

Training courses should therefore not be delivered in isolation. Learning needs to be supported back in the workplace, to allow skills to be practiced. Measures such as integrating NTS appraisals into performance measurement, management conversations, referencing NTS in safety briefs, and practicing NTS on a simulator can all help to reinforce learning.

For the NTS training to be effectively transferred to the job, the new material and content of the course should be actively practiced and sustained over a


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notable period of time. Methods to support on-going communication and promotion of NTS include:

Having a supportive manager who encourages conversations about NTS performance.

Discussions of NTS performance after an incident rather than 'blaming' front line staff.

Evaluating knowledge back in the workplace to make sure that a shared understanding has been transferred.

Monitor attitudes, reactions and performance after training and maintain this performance monitoring.

Use of promotional information such as posters, NTS briefings, newsletters and magazines to maintain focus.

Publicise and share success stories and lessons learned of NTS initiatives.

Continue to monitor through management discussion, incident reporting and self-reporting by front line staff.

It is also important to re-visit your measures of success from your planning stage and consider factors such as:

Did you train the right people first or have you identified a new audience?

Have your biggest influencers succeeded in promoting NTS positively or do you need new champions?

Does the company feel they are getting a positive return on their investment or have expectations changed?

Are your managers setting the right expectations of NTS and promoting NTS positively back in the workplace? Is your current safety culture supporting NTS integration and maximising your investment or do you need to work on aspects of this?

Are you meeting your proposed measures of success for your training and development? If not, why not and do you need to improve the training or amend your measures?

If you are planning to train a range of operational staff and managers, you may need to prioritise roles and consider taking a risk-based approach to this decision. Both the RBTNA, and analysis of incidents and accidents, or another risk-based approach could help to identify the levels of risk and who should get training first, or what type of training they should receive.


While not explicitly about NTS training, further information on supporting training and development can be found in:

RSSB RS100 Good Practise Guide on Competence Development (http://www.rssb.co.uk/rgs/standards/RS100%20Iss%201.pdf)

Chapters 3, 5 and 6 of the RSSB RS800 Guide (http://www.rssb.co.uk/rgs/standards/RS800%20Iss%201.pdf) in terms of how people react to change, and structuring an effective brief or training session.


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6 How do you measure non-technical skills?

6.1 How can this section help you?Measuring NTS can be a challenge, in terms of identifying what to measure, how to measure and how to feed this back to staff.

This section will help you to determine which NTS to measure, the type of approaches you can use to measure NTS, and how to provide feedback.

The guidance is supported by these items in the RSSB NTS online toolkit:

Example forms for structuring NTS measurement

Materials providing further tips for measurement and feedback

Relevant case studies

6.2 How do I measure an individual's NTS?6.2.1 What do I measure?

When measuring NTS performance on the job, this should always be done as part of evaluating technical task performance. As such your NTS mapping (see Section 3.2) will help you identify which NTS you should be measuring for each technical task.

If you have integrated your NTS mapping into competence standards (Section 3.3) then these standards can be used to structure your NTS measurement.

If you have completed the mapping but not integrated the findings into your standards then you can use the behavioural markers developed by RSSB for each non-technical skill (contained within the RSSB NTS online toolkit) to create statements of observable behaviour that the assessor can look for and provide feedback on.

Behavioural markers are very helpful for structuring measurement because they provide:

Clear and observable examples of NTS.

Consistent and a common language for describing NTS.


Clarity for employees in terms of how NTS relate to their role and what is expected of them.

If you have not completed an NTS mapping exercise, then it is advisable to do so before you start measuring NTS. Guidance on completing this mapping is provided in Section 3, while Section 5 provides guidance on training needs analysis which can also help you identify NTS to measure.

6.2.2 How do I measure non-technical skills?

6.2.2.1 Opportunities for measurement

There are many opportunities for measuring NTS as part of technical task performance. For example, measurement can be undertaken on the job, perhaps providing greater opportunity and a more realistic environment or in a simulator allowing for more unusual and challenging situations to be practiced.

Table 10 provides some example opportunities for measurement.

Table 10 - Example opportunities for measurement

Opportunity Benefit Weakness

ObservationsCan be used on the job and during simulated scenarios.

Can be distracting. Not all NTS can be observed, for example those relating to decision making.

Talk throughs

Staff asked to talk through actions as they complete them so more NTS can be measured.‘What if’ questions can be used to help understand how staff would demonstrate NTS if different situations occurred.

Staff can find it hard to carry out tasks and explain them at the same time. Some NTS can be difficult to articulate.


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InterviewStaff talk through actions and NTS can be explored in detail.

Interview is not carried out while the person is completing the task and so it can be difficult to clearly relate NTS to the technical tasks.

Review of performance, including review of incidents, accidents and/or near misses

Information is readily available.Investigations of incidents, accidents and near misses can draw out NTS.When a staff member has dealt with an unusual event you can use a structured interview to understand the demonstration of NTS.

There can be a risk of assumptions being made about an individual’s behaviour.Review needs to be supplemented with observations or talk throughs.

Peer measurement

Staff NTS are measured by their peers to help facilitate personal development.

Peers will need detailed training. Should only be used for personal development and not used to inform competence decisions.

Self-assessment

NTS self-assessment questionnaire to facilitate awareness and personal development. (see Figure 6)

Should only be used for personal development and not used to inform competence decisions.Best to combine with another assessment method as individuals tend to overestimate their ability.




Figure 6: Extract of NTS self-evaluation questionnaire developed by Network Rail

To produce useful and usable results, all measurement should be:

Reliable – producing consistent results.

Valid – measuring what it is supposed to measure, providing results that are trusted by the job holder, assessor and manager.

Fair – not discriminating against people, for example, on the grounds of age, gender or ethnicity.

Team measurement

NTS is measured within a team activity to understand how individuals and teams demonstrate NTS.

May need more than one assessor to be able to measure individual and team NTS.

Simulated measurement

Use of simulators, role plays, emergency drills, and desk top exercises can help to simulate events that staff may not experience regularly. Observations and talk throughs can be used to help measure NTS.

Still an artificial environment and can be costly to organise.




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Objective – based on factual evidence collected around determined criteria. Ideally multiple methods should be used to collect evidence.

Measurement of NTS should also be undertaken across different operational modes so that you can see how staff demonstrate NTS during routine, degraded and emergency situations.

6.2.2.2 Picking opportunities

To help you determine the best opportunities for measurement consider:

1 Frequency of technical task performance: Tasks that are done more often are likely to lend themselves to on the job measurement. Low frequency tasks may lend themselves to scenario or simulation measurement. For these, the rigour and frequency of measurement may need to be increased due to limited opportunities for job holders to do the tasks.

2 Difficulty of technical task: With complex tasks there may be a greater risk of error; so the measurement may need to be more in depth. Use multiple methods, potentially more frequently.

3 Importance of the task: High priority tasks may need more in depth and frequent measurement, using multiple methods.

You may have prioritised tasks during your NTS mapping exercise (Section 3.2) and hence you can use this information to identify the best opportunities for measurement. Alternatively, if you have carried out a training needs analysis (Section 5.2) the analysis should provide information on task difficulty, importance and frequency.

If you have not carried out either, you should read Sections 3 and 5 of this guide before determining opportunities for measurement.

6.2.2.3 Recording the information

Creating a measurement form and/or checklist can help an assessor measure NTS. The form or checklist acts as a reminder for the assessor about which NTS to measure, and allows them to record evidence of NTS related to technical task performance.

The measurement form can also create consistency in how NTS are measured and provides structure for feedback (Section 6.3).

The measurement form should:

Identify the technical task(s).

List all relevant NTS and make reference to behavioural markers as needed.


Have sufficient room for the assessor to take notes.

Figure 7 shows an example extract from an NTS measurement form created by RSSB. You can find this form, along with additional guidance for completing NTS measurement, in the RSSB NTS online toolkit.

Figure 7: Extract from the NTS measurement form developed by RSSB

6.3 How do I provide feedback? Feedback is the best way of helping staff to understand their strengths and determine areas for improvement.

It should be based on the evidence gathered during the measurement, so it is fair and objective. Feedback should be presented in a constructive manner covering both positive elements and areas for development. This will help the individual to understand the specific technical actions they were undertaking, the NTS they were or were not demonstrating, the effect this had on task performance (positive and negative), and what could have been done differently (and will be done differently in the future).

The feedback session can also be used to gather further information on the demonstration of NTS. For example, you could explore how certain decisions were made, or the type of information the person used to understand the situation.

It is useful to run the feedback session in the style of a coaching conversation. This involves asking open questions (what, why, how, where, when) to help the individual reflect on their performance, identify the positive elements of their performance, areas for development, and improvements that can be made. You can help to facilitate this process by providing relevant evidence gathered from the NTS measurement.


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Taking a coaching approach to feedback helps the individual take greater responsibility for, and ownership of, their development.

You can find further guidance on how to structure feedback sessions, including the type of questions to use, in the RSSB NTS online toolkit.

6.4 Measuring the NTS of leaders, managers, supervisors, trainers and assessorsAs described in Section 5.4, it is important that NTS measurement does not just focus on front line staff. The NTS of leaders, managers, supervisors, trainers and assessors should also be measured, to facilitate the effective integration and demonstration of NTS.

This measurement can be developed in the same way as with front line staff, while the same type of opportunities for measurement can be used. As such, the guidance provided in Sections 6.1 to 6.3 can be used to help you measure the NTS of leaders, managers, trainers and assessors. Some key points to remember are:

Measure NTS as part of leaders', managers', supervisors’, trainers' and assessors' day to day tasks, as well as those carried out infrequently.

Use NTS mapping and/or training needs analysis to help determine the NTS you want to measure.

Consider the frequency, importance and difficulty of tasks to help inform the type, frequency and rigour of the measurement.

Try to use more than one method, remember each method should be reliable, valid, fair and objective.

Use a form or checklist to structure your measurement.

Provide feedback to leaders, managers, supervisors, trainers and assessors, using coaching conversations.


6.5 Overall, what are the NTS measurement dos and don'ts?6.5.1 Do

Measure or evaluate, rather than assess, NTS.

Conduct measurement as part of technical task performance.

Use multiple methods and ensure they are reliable, valid, fair and objective.

Consider the frequency, difficulty and importance of technical tasks.

Use NTS mapping and/or training needs analysis to inform measurement criteria.

Provide objective and constructive feedback.

Measure the NTS of your assessors, supervisors, trainers, managers and leaders.

6.5.2 Don't

Assess NTS (see Section 5.5 for more information).

Measure NTS in isolation from the technical task.

Fail people on their NTS. Competence decisions should be based on the failure to carry out a technical task to the required standard, with the 'poor' NTS discussed as a factor of this.

Only measure the NTS of front line staff.

Use only one method of measurement; such as the method your assessors are most comfortable with.

Base your measurement on subjective impressions.

Provide feedback that lists everything the person did wrong.


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7 Revise and renew NTS integration

7.1 How can this section help you?The aim of this section is to help you to get the most out of your NTS programme by providing ideas on how you can review the success of your programme and how you can renew the momentum to your programme. You should continually monitor and review the effectiveness of NTS integration, to help to identify areas of development, improvement, or success. Rather than starting a programme and then becoming complacent, organisations should want to learn from and continually develop their NTS work by asking questions such as:

What has worked or not worked particularly well?

Has our integration gone to plan?

What have we learnt?

Has this programme had an effect on the business?

Has this programme met front line staff's expectations?

Has this programme met manager's expectations?

What can we share with others?

What further integration can we do?

Items in the RSSB NTS online toolkit to support this guidance include:

Human Factors Awareness course information

Questions from Manager NTS tools document

Guidance on how to create a fair culture during incident investigations and in driver development plans


7.2 Has the programme worked and what have we learnt? Once you have started the integration, training, and communication, you can begin to review progress to understand if you are getting the outputs you wanted or expected. The review should be based on the success measures agreed at the outset of the programme (Section 2.3.4) and additional measures could be included. These should focus on measureable leading and lagging indicators and should contain feedback from staff, trainers, assessors, supervisors, managers and leaders.

You could consider using:

Number of staff trained vs number of staff planned to train

Output of training satisfaction evaluation

Attitudes towards safety

Levels of integration achieved vs planned

Feedback from managers (formal or informal)

Feedback from front line staff (formal or informal)

Feedback from champions on their perception of effectiveness

You can also measure effectiveness against four different levels. These are described in Table 11.


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Table 11 - Levels of measurement

Level Description Example measures

1 Reactions

Measurement of how people feel about NTS integration activities such as training or awareness workshops.

Often questionnaires to understand the participant’s reaction and satisfaction. These can be administered after a training course for example, or you can administer these six months or a year into the integration programme.

2 Learning (knowledge and attitudes)

At this level, you are measuring how well the participants have understood and taken in the information and facts you have trained them on. This can be related to knowledge (can they name the non-technical skills and the categories they relate to), or to their attitude to NTS (do they believe in the importance of NTS and has the training affected this belief positively).

Pre and post training knowledge quizzes.You can also administer a NTS self-evaluation questionnaire pre and post training (see Figure 6).

3 BehaviourAt this stage, you are measuring whether the integration has had an actual, demonstrable benefit to on the job performance.

This can be evaluated through management discussions as part of a performance review, or an NTS evaluation during an operational performance review.

4 OrganisationAt this stage you are looking for demonstrable improvements to organisational outputs such as improved performance or safety measures However, it is difficult to tie this to NTS training. A more definitive measure could be a safety culture or safety climate survey, as this can measure changes in attitudes towards safety.

The number and severity of safety incidents – pre and post integration.Cost of incidents vs money invested in NTS integration.To measure financial return, companies will need to keep a record of monies invested in NTS integration. This may involve pulling together records from various departments across the company.RSSB safety culture toolkit.


Measurement can bring a number of benefits such as:

Seeing if your NTS integration programme is having the desired effect.

Seeing if the integration is appealing to the audience or if you need to re-think any aspects of it.

Providing leaders and managers with feedback on their investments.

Creating positive stories and successes that can be fed back to the organisation.

Moreover, to promote and maintain interest in the NTS programme the outcome of these measurements should be shared with staff. This feedback will need to be phrased differently for different audiences. For example, for front line staff this could mean that it is included in company communications or newsletters, on staff boards, and discussed at safety meetings or development days. For managers this could mean including NTS programme feedback and measurements in management meetings and board packs. You should choose the medium which is the most effective for your audience.


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7.3 Learning from experience and incident investigationRobust incident analysis is a great source of reactive information about how safety management systems have failed. Good interview technique can elicit the root causes of these insights into what can be done differently. To get good quality incident information, the investigation should consider all factors associated with an incident, and should follow the human factors (HF) model illustrated in Figure 8.

Figure 8: Levels of human factors to consider for accident and incident investigation

All three levels of the HF model can contribute to an incident; individual, workplace and organisational factors. The outputs of NTS should only be considered at the individual level factors. While they are affected by issues such as poor equipment design or availability (job/workplace) or poor safety


leadership (organisation) they can only ever be influenced and affected by an individual's capabilities or performance, so they always sit at the individual level.

To get the best NTS data from an investigation, it can be helpful to use the RSSB NTS list and behavioural markers, and the questions in the Manager NTS tools document as a checklist to identify what went wrong and why. Identifying the relevant issues can lead to more effective action plans and other recommendations being put in place.

The development advice provided in the Manager NTS tools document, along with development tips suggested on the RSSB Train the Trainer course can be used to proactively target areas for development. This should be used with the guidance on creating a fair culture in incident investigation and in driver development plans (RSSB research project T1068, see Section 11.). A fair culture is likely to have greater levels of trust and honesty about the causes of the incident.

Implementing a fair culture encourages open discussions and allows people to be more honest about what went wrong and what they could do to stop this happening again. This has been found to work well when managers have the right attitude, as shown in the case study below.


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Outputs of incident investigation should be collated and used to spot any trends in NTS performance identified (either negative in that they were the cause of an incident or irregularity, or positive in that NTS awareness and intervention helped to stop an incident or irregularity from getting worse). This

East Midlands Train’s Operations Standards and Control Systems Manager, Darren Field-Thomas, implemented an NTS based review for staff following operational incidents involving front line staff. The discussion is based on a coaching conversation, provision of NTS and human performance information to help raise awareness of the potential for failures and for the member of staff to identify for themselves strategies for improvement. This results in a development plan which is written by the staff member to improve ownership. East Midlands Trains have had very positive feedback to this initiative. For example the following feedback was received from a dispatcher who had an operational incident and went through the NTS review process.“Unfortunately at the very beginning of my dispatch career, I had an attempt to dispatch against a red signal. I had to go through a few procedures and meetings to find out what had caused this and also to make sure it would not happen again in the future.One of those meetings was with Darren Field-Thomas. Attempt to dispatch against red probably has a different impact on different individuals. The way it had affected me was that I had lost my confidence and was embarrassed about what I had done. The meeting with Darren helped me to understand that this could happen to anybody and it did not necessarily mean that I was a bad dispatcher. All together the ‘brain work’ exercises, the tips and the conversations about my lifestyle in general, along with the observations done by XXXX have helped me a lot. The development plan has made me aware that I have to stay focussed at all times no matter and I have gained my confidence back. I am very sorry that I attempted to dispatch against red but at the same time I think it has made me a better dispatcher. This development plan was without doubt useful to me and I would recommend (the process) to anybody.” Written feedback from an East Midlands Dispatcher


trend analysis should be used to inform training priorities and company strategies where appropriate.

If you are at the stage of re-writing or amending performance criteria or competence standards, this will give you an opportunity to integrate some of the NTS terminology into the performance criteria. You should review and revise performance criteria at regular periods to ensure that they are based upon the most up to date understanding of managing the risk related to the role.

Development of an individual's knowledge, skills and attitude to safety will contribute to safe performance and will be likely be linked to having a progressive organisational impact. Positive findings and results can be shared within the industry and help to facilitate buy in of NTS and building the business case of NTS integration.

7.4 How to track performance over timeTo be able to track an individual's NTS performance over time, it is important to keep detailed records of NTS measurement evaluation and the coaching feedback conversations, notes taken by the managers and progress against any development plans agreed.

These should be completed and filed in a standardised and consistent way to track an individual's development over time and build a picture of strengths and weaknesses and areas of further development. The data can show patterns of individual's patterns of NTS activity, incident types, and their associated development plans. From an organisational perspective, it is important that these outputs are handed over and discussed with an incoming manager so performance can be tracked over time, regardless of manager in post. This was picked up as one of the failures related to the train collision at Norwich.


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These trends in data could also be rolled up to a team level of performance to share learning and comparisons of performance. It can also be used to spot company-wide trends in positive or negative performance. Negative scores on ‘Communications’ in particular, should focus management and training efforts on improving this category. However, as with all incident investigation data, this is only looking at what has already gone wrong and proactive measures of safety performance should also be considered for use.

7.5 Continued support and developmentAs with any change programme, you will need to sustain the momentum and interest in the programme and this can be tiring and sometimes frustrating. However there are multiple resources available to you to help keep your NTS programme 'fresh' and engaging. These include but are not limited to:

Staying up-to-date with industry (or other safety critical industry) good practise: By continually updating the materials or training in your programme, you can keep your programme fresh and relevant to your audience. You can search online for the latest thinking using these search terms: non-technical skills, NO-TECH, crew resource management, or behavioural safety. You can also look in journals to find interesting and relevant case studies, statistics, training materials, and more.

Providing support to staff within the organisation and programme: Integrating NTS is an endurance event rather than a sprint, and people's

"RAIB also found that the driver had a previous operational history indicative that he was prone to lapses in concentration, and that this had not been identified by Greater Anglia's competence management system.Greater Anglia's investigations of the previous incidents that the driver had been involved in had not raised any concerns about the driver's ability to maintain concentration. This was because the driver manager who carried out the investigation had not been trained to consider that incidents, seemingly different in nature, could be linked by underlying behavioural issues. Opportunities to formally review the driver's operational history were missed and this was also not identified by the internal audits conducted by Greater Anglia." From RAIB report into 'Collision at Norwich' Report 09/2014


motivation and interest can sometimes wane. To avoid this, and to maintain interest, you can implement 'champion' groups within your organisation using people who have an interest or need to be involved in NTS. You can also attend industry support events such as RSSB'S NTS Forum which is held four times a year, and the annual RSSB NTS conference (see http://www.rssb.co.uk/improving-industry-performance/human-factors/human-factors-courses/non-technical-skills-course/non-technical-skills-good-practice-forums for details).

Creating a support network within your organisation, using your champions to continually seek feedback and improvements to your programme.


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8 Concluding comments

We hope this guide has given you some insights, new thoughts or re-invigoration to your NTS programme. While there are a number of different aspects to NTS integration, we hope that this guide has shown you how these can be broken down into more manageable chunks and how important each aspect is for getting NTS fully integrated.

NTS integration requires people to be interested, engaged and motivated to take part, especially where change is required. To help your integration programme be sustainable, more likely to succeed and more likely to return on investment remember to:

Pick a good team, have a plan and sell the benefits of integration.

Gather information on and set expectations at the planning stage to clarify the direction of the programme, expected timescales to effect change, what benefits to expect and the roles that different levels of the organisation will need to play.

Identify the right NTS and integrate these into your competence standards, selection, training and assessment processes.

Actively communicate, train and develop NTS across front line roles and managerial levels within your business to create consistent levels of understanding throughout your business.

Measure NTS for different roles and managerial levels and provide on-going support and coaching.

Regularly monitor and measure the programme, communicate success and set new objectives to maintain momentum.

Take part in the RSSB's activities to promote continuous improvement and learning. Use the online resources available through RSSB (www.sparkrail.org) or other resources to keep your programme up to date.

The RSSB Human Factors team is here to support you in your NTS development and integration and we're happy to discuss any aspect of this with you. Please contact the RSSB either by email: [email protected] or telephone: 020 3142 5400.


http://www.sparkrail.org


9 Bibliography

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Cooper, S., Endacott, R., & Cant, R. (2010). Measuring non-technical skills in medical emergency care: a review of assessment measures. Open Access Emergency Medicine, (2), 7–16.

Crichton, M. & Flin, R. (2004). Identifying and training non-technical skills of nuclear emergency response teams. Annals of Nuclear Energy, 31(12), 1317–1330.

Crichton, M. T., Lauche, K., & Flin, R. (2005). Incident Command Skills in the Management of an Oil Industry Drilling Incident: a Case Study. Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management, 13(3), 116–128.

Flin, R. (2004). Identifying and training non-technical skills for teams in acute medicine. Quality and Safety in Health Care, 13.

Flin, R., & Martin, L. (2001). Behavioral Markers for Crew Resource Management: A Review of Current Practice. The International Journal of Aviation Psychology, 11(1), 95–118.

Flin, R., O’Connor, P., & Crichton, M. (2008). Safety at the Sharp End: A Guide to Non-Technical Skills. Hampshire: Ashgate Publishing Limited.

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