Former HM Chief Inspector of Railways Ian Prosser set up safety consultancy firm

Former HM Chief Inspector of Railways Ian Prosser has announced the creation of his own consultancy firm, six months after retiring from his role with the Office of Rail and Road (ORR).

Prosser has founded Double O Safety Consulting Ltd, which will work with clients in Saudi Arabia, South Africa and South America as well as the UK.

He has also been appointed as the new independent chair of the Porterbrook Safety Committee.

Prosser told RAIL he would be working with companies, not just in the rail industry, on training and processes for investigating incidents, as well as assisting with investigations himself.

Raising concerns about the amount of time it takes the rail industry to report on accidents, he said: “I want to try and encourage better incident investigation in the rail industry because it’s not good enough.

“If you are too slow, you lose some of the evidence by the time you get to it. You lose the momentum.”

Prosser compared the time it takes for rail investigations to be completed with his time at Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI), explaining: “If you hadn’t done them within a month the business would be closed down by the insurers. There’s no time for big, elongated reports.”

On his Porterbrook role, he said it would involve a focus on rolling stock strategy.

He described the UK’s rolling stock strategy as a “shambles”, and remains uncertain about if or when Great British Railways would be able to resolve anything, saying the organisation was taking too long to set up.

Away from railways, Prosser is also now non-executive director of the Parliamentary Safety Board.