GATX Rail Europe is member of the VPI, the industry association of private owners of freight wagons and workshops, and part of the VPI working group that developed the EMG 11 guideline. This guideline was created to improve safety standards in workshops. The VPI working group also discussed specific solutions to better secure operators on railcars. A general industry solution for securing staff working on free-standing cars did not exist until now. GATX Rail Europe became involved in the association for such a concept or appropriate safety material, which has now been developed by a consulting company and approved by TÜV Austria. The central component of the new safety system is an adjustable lanyard between the safety harness and the railing—previous lanyards did not meet the legal requirements for the special case of rail freight cars. GATX Rail Europe has acquired equipment and approvals and has already carried out appropriate height safety training.

The height safety trainings took place in May in Hanover and in June in Linz to enable as many employees as possible to participate. A total of 30 colleagues from various areas such as maintenance, quality assurance, and project management took part in the training. The theory and practice training included safety and rescue exercises on the car.

The implementation of height safety training is an important step towards improving safety standards when working in the open air and preventing accidents at work. GATX Rail Europe is taking measures to minimize risks in everyday work and to ensure the health and safety of its employees. In the future, GATX Rail Europe will continue to develop innovative solutions and trainings to advance safety-related topics in order to make working on the railcars as safe as possible.