Assessment Body (AsBo) for the railway market

AFRY is an accredited Assessment Body, a service offered to railway operators and vehicle owners who wish to have their equipment authorized for use in the Swedish railway system.

To increase the safety in the European railway system, the European Union regulates risk management for changes applied to vehicles using the railway system. The EU Common Safety Method (CSM-RA) states that the risk assessment, if the change is deemed to be of sufficient dignity (significant), must be reviewed by an independent safety assessor (assessment body).

When the CSM-RA regulation was updated in May 2015, the requirements for those who are AsBo became significantly tougher.

AsBo is accredited against SS-EN ISO/IEC 17020 (control body). In Sweden, accreditation is carried out by SWEDAC.

The European Commission Common Safety Method on Risk Evaluation and Assessment Regulation 402/2013 (CSM RA), as amended by Regulation 2015/1136, provides a legal obligation and mandatory framework for evaluating and assessing the risk associated with significant engineering, operational and organisational changes to the EU railways.

The CSM RA regulation introduces the idea of a Proposer, which is the entity responsible for the change.

An Assessment Body (AsBo) is an independent party appointed to assess the application of the hazard management safety risk process applied during a project. The assessment will determine the project's compliance with the CSM RA regulations. The final output is a Safety Assessment Report.

Accred.nr. 1993
Inspection
ISO/IEC17020 (C)

AFRY’s role as AsBo is based on an accreditation to EN ISO/IEC 17020:2012 where independence and impartiality are required. AFRY’s accreditation is endorsed by SWEDAC which is the national accreditation body for Sweden.

AFRY act within the technical areas Locomotive and Passenger Rolling Stock (LOC&PAS), Control Command Signalling (CCS), Energy (ENE) and safe integration.

Independent Reviewer (future Designated Body, DeBo)

A Designated Body (DeBo) assess compliance to National Technical Rules (NTRs) to cover open points in the TSI’s, specific cases and compatibility requirements for the Swedish railway network.

A designated body controls the subsystem on the basis of a pre-determined process. The processes are described by the Swedish Transport Agency's regulations, and it is the person applying for the control who chooses which process to use.

As of January 20, 2023 AFRY is appointed DeBo within CCS and LOC&PAS by the Swedish NSA.