The history of improvements in rail safety, both in Australia and internationally, closely follows the history of major rail accidents.

Although major rail accidents are exceedingly rare events, detailed investigations following such events has produced a wealth of evidence that identifies safety culture as being a fundamental element in the prevention of further accidents. It has become generally accepted that a high proportion of accidents, incidents and near misses on the railways follow unsafe acts by people, whether frontline workers or managers.

In the UK, the Clapham Junction accident in 1989, and the Ladbroke Grove train crashes that happened in September 1997 and October 1999 respectively, all resulted in investigations that explicitly addressed the issue of safety culture. 

The latter two inquiries took a fundamental look at the generic issues surrounding safety in the British Railway Industry. A principle conclusion focused on the improvement of safety management, specifically safety culture:

"Achievement of an improved safety culture on the railways is at the core of the whole programme of change initiated by Lord Cullen's Inquiries...if an organisation has the right culture in place it will find the right people and the right technology to deliver safe and effective performance."

"...the need for a positive safety culture is the most fundamental thought before the inquiry."

In Australia, the Special Commission of Inquiry into the Waterfall Derailment made two recommendations in respect of improvement of safety culture in the state of New South Wales. This, and other investigations, has led to the inclusion of safety culture considerations in the National Model Rail Safety legislation. It is now compulsory in Australia for accredited rail operators to include safety culture considerations in their Safety Management Systems.