Personal Track Safety (PTS)

To make rail workers aware of their surroundings at all times on the railway, so they stay safe.

At first you will have a probationary period of about six months, and you will wear a blue hard hat to show you are inexperienced. This which will show up when your Sentinel card is scanned. When you are judged to have enough experience, usually by your supervisor, you will be allowed to wear a white hard hat.

The principal hazards include collisions between a rail vehicle and a track worker, electrocution from traction power sources and trips and falls. PTS ensures that rail workers are aware of their surroundings so that they do not enter situations where the aforementioned accidents are likely to occur, are able to move around the lineside safely and are able to react appropriately to circumstances (e.g. the approach of a train).

A position of safety is at least 1.25metres (four feet) from the running line for trains going up to 100 miles per hour and at least 2 meters (six feet six inches) from the running line for trains going between 101 and 125 miles per hour. An authorised walking route provides safe access to or from a place of work.

A PTS Certificate is required before anybody is allowed to work within the boundary of Network Rail tracks in the UK (on or near the line). It is also a requirement in the Republic of Ireland. Any potential employee must undergo a medical and a drug and alcohol test before attending a "personal track safety" course.

Basic medical assessment for national rail PTS includes: A medical questionnaire, audiometry (hearing test), vision testing, blood pressure estimation, physical examination and urine testing.

The object of the medical assessment is to ensure that employers meet their duty of care so that individuals working in this potentially dangerous environment are not subject to increased risk of harm to themselves or their colleagues, or in some cases members of the public, due to any foreseeable underlying medical condition.