Meet the team - becoming an RAIB inspector
One of our inspectors talks about their role and the different challenges they had to face when they started working at RAIB
Richard Harrington
This year marks my twelfth as an RAIB inspector.
I can still remember my first day like it was yesterday…I remember thinking, had I done the right thing? I had been in the railway industry since 1989, working as a shunter, freight guard, train driver, driver instructor, competence assessor and accident investigation manager. But this was a big change, working for the government, an inspector of rail accidents.
I soon settled in and found that the RAIB is a very welcoming place to work, with colleagues with diverse backgrounds, but sharing a common desire to find out what went wrong and to prevent the same things happening again.
The training was intense and covered many areas of the railway I had little experience of; track maintenance, signalling design, heritage railways, the underground and trams. Once qualified as an inspector we receive regular training, both theoretical and practical, to keep us competent to deploy and investigate.
I also learned about engaging with bereaved families and people involved in traumatic events; something I had limited experience of. This element of RAIB’s work, while emotional, can be rewarding as it drives you on to do your best to make sure the accident that caused you to cross paths with families does not happen again.
The level of detail of the work of the RAIB is incredible, and I work with truly amazing people. Although there is an on-call commitment, and you can find yourself in any part of the UK, or testing in the middle of the night on track or in a depot, sometimes at short notice, your wellbeing and work-life balance are at the forefront on RAIB’s work.
Obviously, being an investigator means many hours of ‘desk work’, from reviewing statements, meeting notes and reports, to analysing data from tests, trains and trams, signalling systems, and report writing. The training provided, and the experience of your colleagues, means this is not as daunting as it sounds, and is actually very interesting and rewarding.
You know you have an amazing job when you wake up looking forward to the working day ahead.
If you are naturally inquisitive and are able to deal with last-minute changes to your plans, this could well be the career for you.