About us
We find safety in listening.
We're here to listen
CIRAS is the transport sector’s confidential safety hotline. Our mission has been the same since 1996 – to listen carefully and impartially to your health, wellbeing and safety concerns when you feel you can’t use internal reporting channels, or if you have tried without success. We raise your concern with the relevant company for resolution while protecting your identity, so the response focuses on your concern and not on who you are. Afterwards, we let you know what happened as a result of your concern being heard.
We help you build a listening culture
By being part of the CIRAS community, our member organisations demonstrate their commitment to listening, improving safety and reducing business risk. Keeping your workforce, customers and the public safe and healthy is not only the right thing to do, it’s also good for business.
We help our members promote an even stronger culture of listening, where all voices are valued. As a CIRAS member, you can hear from anyone in transport – not just your employees – so you can act on their concerns to reduce risk.
We’re not here to replace your other reporting channels. Our members understand that even the best systems can’t cover every eventuality – because where people are concerned, things aren’t always straightforward. We are a safety net, listening to the voices you might miss, and connecting you to information that might otherwise stay hidden.
Our story
CIRAS started life in 1996 to allow railway workers to report health and safety concerns in complete confidence. We have grown, becoming a community of around 2,000 members from across the whole transport sector – spanning operators in mainline rail, bus, tram, urban metro and light rail, as well as the transport supply chain, highways and ports – in the UK and the Republic of Ireland.
We are a not-for-profit subsidiary of Rail Safety and Standards Board, retaining financial and operational independence, and we are funded by our members. We listen to our members’ changing needs through an advisory committee of member representatives, unions and independent experts.
Safety in transport has come a long way since CIRAS was first introduced. Today we work closely with our members, supplementing their own systems, sharing best practice and working together to build a culture of listening – so that everyone gets home safe and well.
Frequently asked questions