Sentinel is the rail industry’s Authority to Work system that enables you to work safely on the infrastructure. Sentinel is owned and run by Network Rail, for the industry, and is supported by the Sentinel Scheme Rules. The Sentinel Scheme Rules apply to everyone who uses Sentinel, and outline responsibilities, policies and breaches that must be adhered to. You can find a copy here.

To make Sentinel smart, safe and simple we use the very latest smartcard technology, a secure and trusted database, and multiple devices. This allows workers’ competence and fitness to work to be verified simply and effectively in near real time. There are currently over 100,000 users on the system across the industry, and over 1,700 Sponsor companies signed up to the scheme.