Plantforce has marked out the high safety and compliance standards of its operations by meeting the Rail Industry Supply Qualification Scheme’s (RISQS) Sentinel standards.
Having worked with RISQS for years to establish ourselves as a trustworthy, reliable supplier for our customers, meeting the Sentinel protocol standards shows we’re going the extra mile to guarantee safety and efficiency.
James Smith, Plantforce SHEQ Manager for Plantforce, explains, “Although this is a rail-side qualification, to achieve it we’ve had to prove that our organisation has a strong health and safety culture. So for customers in any industry, this standard is an endorsement and validation of our processes. It shows that Plantforce is low risk when it comes to safety and compliance.”
What is Sentinel?
Sentinel is a protocol set by RISQS that assesses a supplier’s processes for managing operator fatigue and meeting compliance standards against rail industry regulations. Passing the Sentinel audit is a legal requirement for any supplier to provide track-side machinery and operators to rail customers.
James says, “The railway is a high risk and penalty environment. For example, any delay you cause on track incurs fines of £10,000 per minute. To achieve Sentinel’s high standards, we’ve had to prove that our systems are efficient, that there’s redundancy in our operations and the people we hire are in the best possible health to work.”
How did we meet these standards?
To meet the Sentinel standards, we undertook an extensive audit process to prove that:
- We had all the appropriate risk assessments and method statements in place to meet rail industry compliance standards.
- We have occupational health processes for our operators, this includes fatigue management controls.
- Any operators are fully qualified and certified to perform the required tasks.
- A strong health and safety culture was embedded across the organisation.
- We had effective controls in place to manage and oversee safety‑critical employees and subcontractors.
- Training programmes, competency assessments, and formal recertification processes were fully documented and actively maintained.
- Clear operational risk management procedures were established, with appropriate mitigation measures applied.
- Management accountability was clearly demonstrated, supported by visible leadership involvement.
- Policies, procedures, and supporting documentation were current, controlled, and ready.
- We could evidence continuous improvement through proactive compliance monitoring, learning, and performance review.
In short, meeting these strict safety and compliance standards showed our team is always ready to work immediately and that our operations are low risk and reliable.
Why does it matter?
This Sentinel accreditation means we can supply customers, including Tier 1 businesses, with both operators and machines for track-side work. As a result, we can give rail customers the full operated hire solution for their projects, without them needing to perform extra due diligence. Plus, our business will now appear on the main supplier database.
However, as James explains, the real impact of this accreditation falls well beyond the rail industry. “The process we’ve followed to pass this industry vetting means any customer can feel confident in our safety, quality and compliance systems,” he says. “We’ve got all the checks in place to ensure our equipment comes to the customer right first time, plus all our operators are healthy and well experienced.
“In short, our customers can experience a gold standard operated plant hire solution every time they work with us.”
