Automating external safety reporting: lessons from Norway’s rail authority

By 09:00 your team has logged three incidents. Before lunch, two more arrive, each needing to reach an external authority in the correct format. The real risk comes from repetitive admin such as re-keying, delays, and small errors. Automated reporting turns a single case record into timely, compliant submissions without extra effort.

Why automation matters beyond rail

Any organisation that reports incidents or indicators to an external body can benefit including energy, chemicals, manufacturing, healthcare, and transportation. Automation keeps data accurate at source, sends urgent alerts quickly, supports consistent definitions (including ERA-aligned guidance where relevant) and provides a clear audit trail - without duplicate effort.

A live example

The Norwegian Railway Authority (Statens jernbanetilsyn, SJT) shows how this works in practice with Synergi Life.  

Norway’s example: SJT’s pipeline with Synergi Life

The Norwegian Railway Authority oversees safety across Norway’s railway ecosystem. Working with DNV, SJT receives incident data from operators and infrastructure managers, primarily via Synergi Life. The authority routes, de-duplicates and quality-checks the data for regulatory use. 

“We handle around 47,000 cases a year. Without the automated set-up, we would not be able to keep up.” - Kristin Anna Johansen, Senior Executive Officer, SJT. 

From manual work to automatic reporting

Most organisations now send cases automatically on a regular schedule, often every four hours. Once a case is registered locally, the required details are forwarded to SJT. For the highest severity categories, notifications to the National Investigation Body are generated so all parties are alerted. 

“At set intervals, often every fourth hour, the system checks for new cases and transfers them automatically. For the two highest severity levels, Synergi Life also triggers an email to the investigation body and our leadership.” - Kristin Anna Johansen 

Eliminating duplicates and reducing workload

Rail incidents are frequently observed by multiple parties (e.g., train operator and infrastructure owner). SJT’s pipeline detects and marks duplicate reports, cutting manual triage dramatically: 

“By matching reference numbers between parties, the system removes close to 70% of duplicate reports - that’s 7–8,000 cases a year we don’t need to weed out by hand.” – Kåre Bøklepp, Senior Advisor, SJT 

Keep your internal taxonomy

SJT requires a minimum set of fields, but operators retain their own codes and depth of categorisation. Mapping tables translate local detail to the authority’s model, so internal risk context is preserved while external obligations are met.  SJT estimates that about 95% of incoming data now arrives automatically, with original submissions preserved for compliance.  

“Operators can continue to use deeper, internal codes. We map their sub-codes to our master codes, so they keep granular risk insight and we receive standardised data.” - Kristin Anna Johansen, SJT  

Open by design

Although most parties use Synergi Life, SJT accepts inputs from other systems through the same interfaces developed with the DNV team. The priority is a reliable, standardised flow rather than dependence on a single application.  

“Automation means reporting to the authority costs organisations nothing extra - once they register a case in their system, the transfer just happens.” - Kåre Bøklepp, SJT.

Ensuring alignment with external frameworks

To stay compliant with external frameworks, reporting must be consistent, traceable, and aligned with the expectations of the receiving authority. Synergi Life provides an auditable reporting channel that preserves the original case record and produces standardised submissions that ensure alignment with the safety guidance published by the European Union Agency for Railways (ERA). The same approach can be configured for other regulators, providing timely, comparable information while organisations retain their internal taxonomy and a clear chain of custody. 

Connecting operators, infrastructure owners, and authorities through Synergi Life.

The bigger outcome

Automated, standardised reporting does more than meet a regulatory requirement. It creates a shared, near-real-time picture of risk across an entire ecosystem. Organisations spend less time on administration and more time on prevention; regulators gain earlier visibility of weak signals; industry learns faster from near misses and trends. Data quality improves, audits become simpler, and the same trusted dataset can serve internal performance reviews, external disclosures, and national indicators without rework. 

“With a national overview, we can advise operators on emerging hazards so they strengthen barriers before something serious happens.” - Kåre Bøklepp, SJT 

In practice, this means SJT is available to support companies when they begin something new, such as opening a new line or introducing a new type of operation. Together, they review hazards linked to those activities and share insights that companies can choose to incorporate into their own risk assessments, helping to strengthen quality and reduce risk. 

The pattern is transferable to any sector where safety and compliance matter - energy and process industries, transportation, healthcare, construction, and manufacturing.  

  • Agree on a common minimum dataset, then keep detail where it adds value.  
  • Connect systems through secure, machine-readable interfaces so cases flow automatically.  
  • Collect once, map once, publish to many. 

The result is a faster learning loop, stronger barriers, and greater public trust. 

Discover how Synergi Life can support your organisation

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