A dynamic list of potential initiatives (events) and potential COSUF representatives in these initiatives (like PIARC) and a proposal if and how to liaise. There is overlap in the scope of AG1 and AG3: AG1 should primarily focus on conferences rather than research activities which are the focus area of AG3.

• for instance being a honorary sponsor for ISTSS.
• ITACUS (Committee on Underground Space? ITA COSUF should make sure that we are always at their side whenever they talk about this item in order to cover the safety aspects immediately
• ITAtech
• ITA-CET

ITACUS and ITAtech may open up new fields of ac-tivities for ITA COSUF AG 1.

b) Be pro-active in manners like:

• promotion about ITA COSUF at conferences / workshops etc. of ITA (like the ACUUS event in Singapore in 2012)
• become visible as a major stakeholder in security aspects of new types of underground facilities through participation at conferences etc.

Exchange AG minutes

A Communication Strategy consisting of among others:

• external distribution of ITA COSUF Newsletters (3 per year)
• ITA COSUF Award
• content website
• social media (Tunnel Talk, Linked In)
• standard ITA COSUF presentation

COSUF review reports on research reports

AG 2 covers regulations, the state-of-the-art and best-practices internationally. This includes discussion and comparison of regulations, norms, standards and best-practice procedures from different owners, networks, projects and the experience gained by them. The findings can result in recommended best practice, guidelines or proposals for new regulations. The potential activities cover all safety related aspects such as (but not limited to):

• safety objectives
• basic methods of technical approach (prescriptive and performance-based approaches)
• protection of the structure
• methods for risk assessment
• safety systems and equipment
• interaction with human behaviour
• operation and maintenance
• intervention
• security

Particular attention is given to aspects where an exchange of ideas and an international harmonisation of approaches are beneficial for the tunnelling community.

The ambition of this Activity Group is to be a global forum for tunnel safety. The Activity Group shall be the place to go to for unambiguous or unresolved practices. The Activity Group shall form an initiative part of the tunnel community and shall have a review role in new and published national and international regulations on tunnel safety and security.

Activities and Outputs

The activities in AG2 consist of:

• providing a forum for discussion of regulations and best practice
• identifying holes or lack of relevant regulations with regards to tunnel safety
• reviewing and commenting of new national and international regulations

Outputs will be:

• issuing guidelines and/or recommendations for unambiguous or lacking regulations

The aim of AG 3 is to provide a platform for the exchange of knowledge in the scope of underground safety and security by bringing together the key stakeholders from academia, authorities and industry. Topics include the discussion on the research results, new findings, innovations and potential new research topics.

AG 3 meets twice a year for working on its objectives.

Activities include:

1. developing research projects on specific topics as a joint effort of ITA COSUF partners
2. identifying and evaluating future needs and research topics
3. providing a platform for the exchange of research and new findings
4. dissemination of results and new findings amongst ITA COSUF members 

While the aforementioned research activities are facilitated within ITA COSUF in general and AG3 in special, the actual launch of new research projects is initiated outside the COSUF frame. COSUF and the AG aims for and is capable of facilitating and steering such research projects. 

AG 3 is working through various channels. The most important internal ones  are AG meetings and working groups. External activities include organising workshops and seminars together with ITA COSUF. Additionally, newsletters and the website are provided for distributing the latest information.

Areas covered by AG 3 include the following topics in the scope of underground safety: 

1. new/innovative equipment 
2. new materials and production methodologies 
3. methodologies and processes for design, analysis and assessment 
4. experience and data from tunnel incidents, accidents and near misses 
5. monitoring during operation and maintenance 
6. training and simulation of first responder activities (evacuation, search&rescue, fire-fighting) 
7. interfaces between tunnel users, operators and rescue services (human behaviour etc.) 
8. special security related problems

The main ambition of AG 3 is to build and maintain a solid network of underground safety stakeholders for working on innovation and R&D. AG 3 helps to distribute the present knowledge and to identify future challenges of operational safety of underground facilities.

Activity Group 4 of COSUF aims to be the Platform for European Tunnel Safety Officers for exchange of experiences through its bi-annual Forum and Development of best practices.

At November 4 to 5, 2009 in Lyon, ITA COSUF organized the 1st European Forum of Road Tunnel Safety Officers, an event which was co-organized by CETU, ITA COSUF, PIARC and European Commission. More than 45 Safety Officers from 18 member states participated to exchange information, evaluate first operational experiences and compare role and duty interpretation of the Safety Officer. After this first event ITA COSUF AG4 Tunnel Safety Officers (TSO) activity group. By doing so, the ITA-COSUF acknowledges that most of the functions and tasks assigned to the Safety Officer by the EU Tunnel Directive can only be achieved by a qualitative approach, making exchanges between Safety Officers of paramount importance. The following events were:

• January to February 2012: 2nd European Forum of Road Tunnel Safety Officers, Brussels
• March 2014: 3rd Forum for European Tunnel Safety Officers on March 27 to 28 in Luxembourg with theme: “Tunnel safety: a joint effort”

Each Forum was organised in cooperation with the EU committee on Road Safety and PIARC.