Personal Track Safety - PTS Certificate

PTS Certificate

A PTS Certificate is required before anybody is allowed to work within the boundary of Network Rail tracks in the UK (on or near the line). It is also a requirement in the Republic of Ireland. Any potential employee must undergo a medical and a drug and alcohol test before attending a "personal track safety" course.

The PTS Certificate lists competencies held by the person named on the card. - this may include

• Medical Certificate (expiry dependent on age)
• PTS (AC or DCCR) (expiry 2 years)
• PICOP, COSS, IWA or others...

Deregulation in the National Railway Service in the UK has meant that increasing numbers of subcontractors are being employed within the track environment. Contractors are often used for specific limited projects and are often from companies that have not previously been considered as having “railway pedigrees or culture”.

To work on or near the track involves certification for the individual employee of which there are several levels of competence and responsibility which are assessed.

The basic level for track access for Network Rail is the Personal Track Safety certificate (PTS) as defined by the railway safety standards NR/L2/CTM/021. These levels of certification only assess the individual’s ability to work safely in the track environment. This means that the individual is able to respond and correctly react to circumstances which may arise in this potentially dangerous environment. Persons therefore should not have any condition or be taking any medication that may lead to sudden incapacity, loss of consciousness, dizziness, impairment of awareness, concentration, balance, coordination, or any significant limitation of mobility or impairment of hearing and vision. Persons with minor medical conditions (e.g. colour blind) may still be issued a PTS - though the card will have an indicator, a blue circle, to inform the Controller of Site Safety (COSS) to that person ailment. Similarly, those who have only recently got their PTS certificate will have a green square on their card to indicate their 'new' status, as well as a blue hard hat instead of the usual white hard hat.

The medical assessment undertaken for PTS certification does not address the medical specificity for tasks that an individual may be expected to undertake in their normal duties when actually working on the track. i.e. operating machinery or responsibility for other staff requires a higher level of assessment for the job specification and procedures.

The medical assessment for these certificates must be undertaken by an accredited medical provider. In the case of PTS this is authorised by the “Link up procedure” under the authority of Network Rail.

Providers of this service are registered appropriately and regular audit is undertaken to ensure that they meet the quality control levels for the specific standards of performance and training needed to reliably undertake the medical assessments.

Since 2006 the standards for a PTS have been regulated by The Office of Rail Regulation