Safety is an ethos that should pervade all activities of railway operations and maintenance. It is not an attribute that is likely to be evident merely because rules are reiterated or instructions issued. The concern for safety has to be all pervasive in the functioning of the Indian Railways. Responsibility for ensuring safety is entirely of different departments and their accountability in this regard cannot be diluted. The safety organisation has essentially to be a co-ordinating service department helping the concerned departments to discharge their safety functions effectively.
The ultimate goal of Safety Organization is “Zero Accidents” in train working. To achieve its goal, the Safety Organization is involved in various activities such as counselling of staff about safe working practices, monitoring of all activities related to train working and maintenance of assets, launching of safety drives on different aspects, issue of safety circulars, publication of posters, pamphlets for guidance and counselling of staff and rail users, analysis of all unusual occurrences/accidents to find out the root causes behind them so that a more effective and safe working environment can be developed across various departments.