Best Practice Since 1992

British Rail started work on an Engineering Safety Management handbook (later called “Yellow Book”) in 1992 and published the first version in 1996. The Yellow Book contained good practice guidance for people working in the rail industry who were involved in the engineering of safety related and critical systems and those who make operational decisions about Engineering Safety Management (ESM). Yellow Book material was developed and published by the Yellow Book Steering Group (YBSG) to support the railway community and for many years the Yellow Book was used widely and successfully by the rail industry. The Yellow Book was withdrawn in 2012 as it had become out of date, leaving a “missing piece” for safety practitioners around the world.

Keen to fill the gap left after the Yellow Book was withdrawn, some of the original contributors to the Yellow Book began work on a new guidance document. This document would no longer be constrained to the UK rail industry, but would fulfil a global need for clear articulation of good practice for Engineering Safety Management in the global Rail Sector. This work was led by Technical Programme Delivery Group (TPD), sponsored by MTR Corporation Hong Kong and supported by numerous contributors from around the world.

The first edition of iESM Volumes 1 and 2 were published by TPD in 2013. Over time these volumes were improved, in particular to continue its alignment to EN 50126/8/9 and the European Common Safety Methods, and additional Application Notes were developed to provide guidance in specific areas.