The rail industry often requires workers to undertake safety-critical duties in remote and isolated locations, often during unsociable hours, and operating in these environments can present many challenges for them, including securing access to appropriate welfare facilities, such as toilets.

In the latest episode of the Rail and Road Pod, Richard Hines, our HM chief inspector of railways, explains what tangible improvements the rail regulator wants to see, including working towards a culture where sharing welfare facilities becomes the norm.

And Sally Griffiths, from RSSB, talks about how her organisation has worked to tackle the shortage of welfare facilities for freight drivers by driving standards, research and collaboration in this area.

ORR's duties are wide-ranging, and its engineers are integral to the work carried out across both rail and road.

This can include evaluating infrastructure projects in the way they are managed, reviewing designs, and ensuring compliance with regulations. To mark the recent International Women in Engineering Day, Cherry Lam, Jenny Hamilton, Morwenna Corry and Rachel McDonnell spoke about why they chose to become engineers and their varied work for ORR.

We speak to Jennifer Genevieve, deputy director in our economics, finance and markets team, and Sarah Shore, deputy director in our railway safety team to discuss how the rail industry determines what is "reasonably practicable" when making safety-related decisions. This episode sheds light on ORR's ongoing review and its impact on the industry.