An investigation of neighborhood-level social, economic and physical factors for railway suicide in Victoria, Australia

Too, Lay San; Spittal, Matthew J; Bugeja, Lyndal; Milner, Allison; Stevenson, Mark; McClure, Roderick John

doi:10.1016/j.jad.2015.05.006

Cited by 15 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…The analysis of detailed incident data (provided by 12 countries) showed for example that (a) victims were predominantly males, both for suicides and trespassing accidents, (b) victims were typically between 20 and 59 years of age, (c) railway suicides and trespassing accidents seem to be fairly evenly distributed throughout the year, (d) all weekdays are represented quite evenly, and (e) suicides were almost always committed by persons alone, and even in trespassing accidents there was seldom more than one victim. These data are comparable with the ones published in recent works by Mishara and Bardon in Canada [10], Savage in USA [11], Too et al in Australia [12], and Uittenbogaard and Ceccato in Europe [13]. However, as pointed out by Mishara and Bardon [10], it is unfortunate that data from Europe are not available from lower income countries and the few reports that exist describe only a few incidents in a specific area, making generalisation difficult.…”

Section: Data On Railway Suicides and Trespasssupporting

confidence: 86%

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Lessons learned from the collaborative European project RESTRAIL: REduction of suicides and trespasses on RAILway property

Havârneanu

Bonneau

Colliard

2016

Eur. Transp. Res. Rev.

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Background RESTRAIL was a three year EU FP7 research project which aimed to help reduce the occurrence of suicides and trespasses on railway property and the costly service disruption caused by these events. The project was coordinated by the International Union of Railways (UIC) and provided the rail industry and researchers worldwide with an analysis of the most cost-effective prevention and mitigation measures. The goal of this paper is to inform the railway and scientific community about the successful completion of the project and to present an overview of the main results and key innovations. Method The project covered five relevant issues which significantly contributed to improve the prevention of railway suicide and trespass, and to mitigate their consequences: (1) collection and analysis of data related to railway suicides and trespassing accidents and information about preventative strategies; (2) assessment of preventive measures to reduce railway suicide and trespass; (3) assessment of measures to mitigate the consequences; (4) pilot tests to evaluate some promising measures on the field; and (5) practical recommendations and guidelines. Results The main project outcomes included: an integrated data analysis on railway suicide and trespass, a list of 25 recommended measures, 11 field tests which provided new pieces of evidence for the effectiveness of different measures, and a free online toolbox for decision-makers. Discussion These achievements are discussed in relation to the ongoing need of practical and exploitable results from EU-funded research projects, since the scientific and applied outcomes of RESTRAIL are an example of good practice for the benefit of the entire railway community and society.

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Section: Data On Railway Suicides and Trespasssupporting

confidence: 86%

“…Furthermore, the toolbox is continuously maintained and updated by UIC, therefore its contents are ever expanding and improving as new studies are published (see for e.g. [10][11][12][13]). …”

Section: Organisation and Contentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Lessons learned from the collaborative European project RESTRAIL: REduction of suicides and trespasses on RAILway property

Havârneanu

Bonneau

Colliard

2016

Eur. Transp. Res. Rev.

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“…These stations were selected purposefully to achieve a proportional mix of 80% metropolitan and 20% regional rail stations in the state. This proportion reflected the prevalence of rail suicidal behaviors across metropolitan and regional Victorian rail networks (Too et al, ). These stations were also selected because they were among the stations that had a relatively higher number of suicides, based on the analysis from a previous study (Too, Pirkis, Milner, Bugeja, & Spittal, ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In Victoria, Australia, suicide accounts for approximately three quarters of deaths on rail networks, with an average of 28 rail suicides each year (Too et al, ). Among these deaths, close to 70% take place on the open track, 17% within the station itself, 11% at level crossings, and 5% at pedestrian crossings (Too et al, ). There have been substantial public concerns about these suicides because they have significant traumatic effects not only for family and friends of those who die, but also for those who witness these deaths including passengers, rail drivers, and other rail staff (Lukaschek, Baumert, & Ladwig, ; Mishara & Bardon, ).…”

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confidence: 99%

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The Impact of the “Pause. Call. Be Heard” Campaign on Help‐Seeking and Suicidal Behaviors Within Rail Environment in Victoria, Australia

Too

Ross

Pirkis

et al. 2019

Suicide & Life Threat Behav

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Objective To assess the impact of the “Pause. Call. Be Heard” campaign on help‐seeking and suicidal behaviors within rail environment in Victoria, Australia. Methods An anonymous online survey was conducted to measure noticeability of and engagement with the campaign and help‐seeking intentions and behaviors among rail commuters at 10 rail stations. We generated descriptive statistics to report these data and used logistic regression models to examine the association between campaign‐related factors and help‐seeking. Changes in Lifeline crisis calls and rail suicide behaviors from precampaign to campaign periods were examined using proportion tests. Results About 25% of rail commuters noticed the campaign and rated the materials as “moderately noticeable.” Over half of these individuals correctly identified the campaign intentions and 75% engaged with the materials. Approximately 80% indicated that the materials increased their help‐seeking intentions and about half indicated that they had engaged with help‐seeking and/or self‐caring behaviors. Engaging with the campaign was positively associated with help‐seeking. A significant increase in crisis calls but not in suicide‐related calls, and a nonsignificant decrease in rail suicidal behaviors were found during the campaign period. Conclusions Continued implementation of the campaign is warranted as it showed some desirable effects on help‐seeking among rail commuters.

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Individual and community factors for railway suicide: a matched case–control study in Victoria, Australia

Too

Spittal

Bugeja

et al. 2016

Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol

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An investigation of neighborhood-level social, economic and physical factors for railway suicide in Victoria, Australia

Abstract: Interventions to prevent railway suicide should target vulnerable individuals residing in areas characterized by high station density, patronage volume and train frequency.

Cited by 15 publications

References 28 publications

Lessons learned from the collaborative European project RESTRAIL: REduction of suicides and trespasses on RAILway property

Lessons learned from the collaborative European project RESTRAIL: REduction of suicides and trespasses on RAILway property

The Impact of the “Pause. Call. Be Heard” Campaign on Help‐Seeking and Suicidal Behaviors Within Rail Environment in Victoria, Australia

Individual and community factors for railway suicide: a matched case–control study in Victoria, Australia

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