FAQs
GENERAL QUERIES
What is CIRAS?
CIRAS is a Confidential Incident Reporting and Analysis Service. We offer a reporting channel for health, wellbeing or safety concerns.
How do I contact CIRAS?
General enquiries
- 0203 142 5369
- enquiries@ciras.org.uk
To make a report:
Is CIRAS a confidential or anonymous service?
Confidential. The identity of reporters and any other individuals related to the concern are handled confidentially.
Has confidentiality ever been breached?
No. CIRAS has been in existence since 1996 and have taken thousands of reports. Reporters’ details have never been disclosed, nor has confidentiality ever been breached.
MEMBERSHIP QUERIES
Who can join CIRAS?
Membership is open to any organisation where management of the safety, health and wellbeing of staff, customers and the public is important. Our current members span construction, transport operators including bus, light rail, tram, urban metros and mainline rail, and the transport supply chain.
How many members do CIRAS have?
Over 1900 member companies. You can view a full list of our members here.
How can my company become a member of CIRAS?
Please click here to apply for membership.
What benefits does CIRAS offer?
- Access to a confidential reporting hotline for your staff to report any health, wellbeing or safety concern
- Access to a shared learning community where we share good practice from our reports and from other members
Why is CIRAS mandatory for Sentinel sponsors?
Organisations with people working trackside on the railway are subject to Sentinel scheme rules which include provision of access to a confidential reporting service. CIRAS provides this service.
REPORTING QUERIES
What can be reported to CIRAS?
We take reports on health, wellbeing and safety concerns. Here are some examples of things that are commonly reported:
- Training & competence
- Fatigue
- Safety practices
- Equipment
- Work environment
- Welfare facilities
- Shift design
- Rules & procedures
Please explain the reporting process.
- Contact us
- Report hotline 0800 4 101 101
- Freepost CIRAS
- Text 07507 285 887
- www.ciras.org.uk
- The interview
- Tell us your concern
- We assess your confidentiality
- The report
- We write the report
- We remove any information that might identify you
- We send the report to the company
- Company response
- The company looks into the concern
- Takes action as required
- Feedback
- We send the company response to you
- We ask you for feedback
How does CIRAS ensure confidentiality?
Our Reporting Analysts are based in a secure room with carefully controlled access. All CIRAS staff follow clear protocols to guard against confidentiality breaches. Reporters’ personal information never leaves the office – any such information held electronically is removed after a report has been closed.
Confidentiality always comes first. Extensive assessments to determine the confidentiality risk during the telephone interview stage are undertaken for each report. Any information that could identify the reporter or any other individual involved is excluded from the report.
Does CIRAS get involved in any investigations?
No. Our role is to facilitate responses between organisations and employees.
What does CIRAS do if a company does not resolve the issue?
If a reporter is dissatisfied with the response, CIRAS will work with the company to improve the response. We have developed a series of tools to support organisations in responding to CIRAS reports.
Do you retain my personal details and for how long?
Yes. Any personal details you provide a kept for the duration of the reporting lifecycle – this is normally around two months. We hold details - such as name, contact number, and email - so we can remain in contact with you. CIRAS is a strictly confidential reporting service and any personal information provided by reporters is kept on our secure database. Once a report is closed these details are electronically 'shredded'. See our privacy notice for more details.