Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to support (a) British Transport Police staff, (b) train drivers and (c) other railway staff who respond to suicide-related incidents on the rail network.

Suicides on the railway can be deeply traumatic events for the rail staff and police officers involved. Every rail operator is required to have a live Suicide Prevention Plan which sets out how it will deliver each of the categories of the Rail Industry Suicide Stakeholder Group’s ‘9 Point Plan’.

This includes how it will offer trauma management support and resilience training to all staff affected by suicides encountered whilst at work, trauma support training for those who manage or supervise staff that may be exposed to traumatic events, the support mechanisms it will put in place to detect emerging mental health problems in the workforce, and the support it will provide those who have been involved in or witnessed traumatic events. Emotional support is required to be in place to support those who may have witnessed a traumatic event or been made vulnerable to suicide as a result of one. The Samaritans offer an emotional support service where volunteers can provide a station presence to support those who need it following a traumatic event.

British Transport Police has a full suite of support available to the officers and staff who may be exposed to traumatic events on the network, with a fully confidential Trauma Risk Management (TRiM) process available to all employees, a confidential professional telephone counselling service through the Employee Assistance programme, available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and a Wellbeing Hub detailing all other measures in which an individual is able to access support.