---
title: "Market Engagement Exercise - T1393 - Occupational health risks in depots relating to silica dust for sanders"
ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-05569c"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-05569c"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-05569c.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-05569c.json"
source: "Find A Tender Service"
current_stage: "Planning"
buyer: "RSSB"
published: "2025-07-01"
---

# Market Engagement Exercise - T1393 - Occupational health risks in depots relating to silica dust for sanders

Buyer: RSSB  
Current stage: Planning  
OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-05569c

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## Summary

The Railway Safety and Standards Board (RSSB), a public undertaking organisation based in London, is engaging in a planning phase for a project titled "Market Engagement Exercise - T1393 - Occupational health risks in depots relating to silica dust for sanders". The project falls under the services industry category, specifically focused on research services, and is set to improve the railway industry's understanding of the risks associated with silica dust exposure during sander replenishment and maintenance in depots. Businesses are invited to express their interest by submitting their capabilities and expertise by 15th July 2025. The formal Invitation to Tender (ITT) is anticipated to be released in late July 2025, with the project scheduled to commence by September 2025, lasting approximately six months.

This procurement process provides a significant opportunity for businesses specialised in occupational health and research services to contribute to a vital industry project. Collaborative submissions or consortia are encouraged, allowing companies to share expertise effectively. With an anticipated project budget of approximately £100k, excluding VAT, this tender is suitable for firms that have strong industry engagement strategies and can handle risk assessments and cost estimations. Businesses with competencies in silica dust mitigation, site visits, and data analysis are particularly well-suited to compete, offering the potential for substantial growth in expertise and influence within the railway sector.

## Notice

We are inviting suppliers to provide us a short summary of their capabilities and experience in this subject area to help us deliver a successful project. We welcome collaborative submissions or consortia, where expertise may be shared between organisations. If responding jointly, please specify the lead contact and delivery roles for each party. We are seeking to receive a response by 12:00, 11 July 2025 For more information about this opportunity, please visit the Delta eSourcing portal at: https://rssb.delta-esourcing.com/tenders/UK-UK-London:-Research-services./5HDPWJ52FH To respond to this opportunity, please click here: https://rssb.delta-esourcing.com/respond/5HDPWJ52FH

### Planning Information

This project aims to:
•Improve the GB rail industry’s understanding and identify appropriate mitigations to the exposure risks associated with the creation of respirable crystalline silica (RCS) and non-crystalline (amorphous) silica for staff when undertaking sander replenishment, maintenance and testing activities in depots, sidings and within passenger trains that are fitted with internal sand fillers. 
•Provide enhanced knowledge on how the risk of RCS and amorphous silica compares between sand alternatives and GB rail sand.
We are inviting suppliers to provide us a short summary of their capabilities and experience in this subject area to help us deliver a successful project. We welcome collaborative submissions or consortia, where expertise may be shared between organisations. If responding jointly, please specify the lead contact and delivery roles for each party. We are seeking to receive a response by 12:00PM (GMT), 15th July 2025 setting out your potential interest and further information you believe to be relevant using the structure suggested below: 
1.Proposed methodology, including an explanation of industry engagement, site visits and analysis that will be carried out. This should include information about the scale of data required, and whether this data is already held or access to it can be facilitated
2.List of key risks associated with the work
3.Estimated timescales 
4.Indicative breakdown of costs
Acknowledgement that RSSB will not provide individual feedback on MEQ responses but may share high-level outcomes of the engagement phase after the tender has been published.
For context only, RSSB anticipates this project will be in the region of £100k excl. VAT (£120k incl. VAT), but this is subject to refinement ahead of the formal ITT
The response will be submitted via the Delta e-sourcing portal. We expect the project to commence no later than September 2025 and take no more than 6 months to complete. The full Invitation to Tender (ITT) is anticipated to be issued in late July 2025.

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Find A Tender Service |
| Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/036367-2025 |
| Notice type | UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice |
| Procurement type | Standard |
| Procurement category | Services |
| Procurement method | Not Specified |
| Procurement method details | Not specified |
| Tender suitability | Not specified |
| Awardee scale | Not specified |
| All stages | Planning |

## Dates

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication date | 1 Jul 2025 |
| Submission deadline | Not specified |
| Future notice date | 15 Jul 2025 |
| Award date | Not specified |
| Contract period | 31 Aug 2025 - 1 Mar 2026 |
| Recurrence | Not specified |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | £100,000 |
| Lots value | Not specified |
| Awards value | Not specified |
| Contracts value | Not specified |

## Status

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender status | Planning |
| Lots status | Planning |
| Awards status | Not specified |
| Contracts status | Not specified |

## Buyer

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Main buyer | RSSB |
| Locality | LONDON |
| Post town | Central London |
| Postcode | EC3M 5AD |
| Country | England |
| ITL 1 | TLI London |
| ITL 2 | TLI3 Inner London - West |
| ITL 3 | TLI35 Westminster and City of London |
| Local authority | City of London |
| Electoral ward | Aldgate |
| Westminster constituency | Cities of London and Westminster |
| Delivery location | Not specified |

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

- 73 - Research and development services and related consultancy services

### Codes

- 73110000 - Research services

## Release History

- 1 Jul 2025 at 11:05 - Planning - UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/036367-2025

## Documents

- https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/036367-2025
  1st July 2025 - Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender

## Notice URLs

- https://rssb.delta-esourcing.com/respond/5HDPWJ52FH
- https://rssb.delta-esourcing.com/tenders/UK-UK-London:-Research-services./5HDPWJ52FH
- https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2023/54/contents

## Provenance

This Markdown file is an alternate public rendering of the D3 Tenders contract record. The canonical page is https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-05569c. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-05569c.json.