ÖBB Annual Report 2023

163 Group Management Report Österreichische Bundesbahnen-Holding Aktiengesellschaft Consolidated Financial Statements | Group Management Report 118 Safety strategy with specific objectives The overall target of the ÖBB Group is to sustainably rank among the most safe railways in Europe. Ambitious strategic safety targets were defined for the ÖBB-Group to ensure that this is achieved, which were extended in 2023 to the target year 2030. As a basis for maintaining the already high level of safety, a fundamental ban on deterioration (multi-year review) and, in addition, a continuous improvement requirement will be introduced. A continuous annual improvement of 2% was agreed as the degree of optimisation in operational safety, occupational safety and public safety. The focus will be placed even more strongly on precursors from 2024, i.e. those events that lead to a train collision, a train derailment or an accident at work, for example, in order to manage safety in a targeted manner. A risk-orientated KPI set geared to the business activities of the respective sub-group or company forms the basis for the strategic and transparent management of safety in the ÖBB Group. The objectives in the area of precursors should reflect the developments in the respective areas and take expected technological leaps into account accordingly. A significant reduction in incidents and accidents requires a greater focus on sustainable improvement measures following accidents and near misses throughout the Group. Detailed error analyses therefore need to be conducted and the data basis further improved. In addition, it involves the further development of the reporting culture – learning from mistakes – and therefore the safety culture as part of the corporate culture. Tools, training and campaigns are developed around the corporate value of “living safety” and its behavioural standards and key elements. They are intended to sustainably safeguard and improve the safety culture and thus also the safety performance. For example, the Rail Cargo Group’s internal campaign focuses on new standards of conduct, behaviour-based safety and rule-based working. Business Continuity Management ÖBB faces the daily challenge of providing services safely, efficiently and quickly. The ongoing trend towards a climate- friendly mobility transition is placing ÖBB’s service provision at the centre of social attention. Ever-increasing customer requirements and general trends are just as significant for ÖBB as technological, social, natural or economic threats. process, resource and performance shortcomings on the part of ÖBB are readily picked up and processed by the media. This is now being taken into account and counteracted by the introduction of a Business Continuity Management System (BCM). This increases the Group’s resilience to adverse events. Relapse levels are to be established on the basis of identified critical processes and resources, and preventive and circumventive measures developed. Downtimes and disruptions therefore leave the core business largely unaffected. Potential disruptions include failures at all levels of production processes that may pose an existential threat to business operations – for example IT failures, natural disasters, technical problems or acute resource bottlenecks. In 2023, a proposal for a Group-wide BCM methodology was developed on the basis of a pilot project and tested as part of a proof of concept (PoC). The ÖBB Group is committed to ensuring that BCM does not degenerate into bureaucracy. In fact, it is designed to quickly categorise operational and business-critical processes in order to derive effective measures. The Group-wide further development and implementation of the BCM will start in 2024. Outlook for 2024 The warning app is to be further developed in the area of operational safety in order to further reduce the number of signal overruns. At the same time, more intensive work is to be done to reduce incidents in the shunting area. The same applies to precursor events that facilitate train accidents. Besides a consistent expansion of technology and an effective further development of processes and procedures, the focus is on the further increase of the safety awareness of the employees in the ÖBB-Group. In 2024, the topic of “being attentive” will be increasingly incorporated into the safety campaign as part of the corporate value "living safety”. for this purpose. Potential hazards should also be recognised in good time and accidents proactively avoided. The topic of “recording and analysing near misses” will be promoted throughout the Group from 2023 / 2024 for this purpose. The improvement of the circumstances surrounding the assaults on staff members is also to be the focus of the set of measures. Information security projects are being implemented to further increase the maturity level of information security. The “Target Operating Model” agreed across the Group means that additional employees will be taken on internally. Internal resources are also receiving increased support from external expertise in order to be able to deal with the changed legal and factual framework conditions in the best possible way. GRI 403-2, 403-4 MR118 |