Keeping track workers safe: a socio-technical analysis of emerging systems and technology

Abstract

Track maintenance work is one of the most hazardous jobs in the rail industry. Track workers are in danger of being fatally injured by rail traffic either on the track they are working on or on adjacent tracks. The rail industry has developed many safe working procedures and protection systems to minimise the risk. The Australian rail industry is now trialling new technology that automatically warns the track workers of approaching trains. These technologies may be added to or ultimately replace the current safe working procedures. As there are different products and technologies available for track worker protection it is not clear which technology is best for the Australian rail environment. The CRC for Rail Innovation project 'R3.120-Track Worker Protection Technology' aims to identify and compare systems that improve protection for track workers. Commercially available systems use different types of technologies and have different safety integrity levels. The effectiveness of a safety system is not only dependent on the technology but also the track workers who operate and are protected by the system. Short-term trials may not highlight all issues across the systems' life cycle so to analyse these socio-technical systems in a relatively short time period a specifically adapted hazard and operability (HAZOP) study is being undertaken. The HAZOP study evaluates both the technical and human factor aspects of the system utilising an expert team. Initially one of the commercially available track worker protection systems was selected as the base for the HAZOP and other track worker protection systems will be analysed based on the issues identified with the initial system. This paper discusses the 'Track Worker Protection Technology' project, the track worker protection technology that is available and the adapted HAZOP used to analyse a track worker safety system as a socio-technical system.

Intervention Mapping as a Framework for Developing and Testing an Intervention to Promote Safety at a Rail Infrastructure Maintenance Company

“…Being aware of the problem (1), having a strong positive intention (6), and possessing the necessary knowledge and skills (5) to perform the required behavior (8) combined with experiencing no or limited environmental barriers (7) to doing so are considered necessary and sufficient to produce a safety-enhancing behavioral change among leaders (8). Attitudes (2: believing that the advantages of performing the new leadership behavior outweigh the disadvantages), social norms (3: perceiving more social pressure to engage in the leadership behavior than not to perform this behavior), and self-efficacy (4: leaders perceiving themselves to be capable of performing the leadership behavior under different circumstances) can weaken or strengthen a behavioral intention.…”

“…A combination of factors affect rail worker safety. Previous studies have demonstrated organizational or technological risk management approaches through the management of safety rules [4] by introducing safe track maintenance schedules [5], tunnel monitoring systems to recognize and detect maintenance workers on the tracks or other technology solutions [6,7], or even digital twins for maintaining a safe working environment for track workers by reducing the time spent working in the danger zone [8]. Earlier research by Farrington-Darby and colleagues [9] identified 40 factors influencing the safety behavior and safety culture among railway maintenance workers, for example, supervisory presence, peer pressure, managers' communication methods, managers' accessibility and availability, the volume of paperwork, contradictory rules, and feedback messages from managers.…”

Enhancing workers safety in worksites through augmented GNSS sensors

“…Alternatively, solutions as Automatic Track Warning Systems (ATWSs, [17]) can be exploited. When building an ATWS, it is evident that accurately knowing the location of the workers would help to raise the worker attention and improve its safety: for trackside maintenance workers, being struck by a train or a rolling stock can be fatal and only requires a momentary lapse in attention [17].Being able to accurately localize the worker in the red or green zone would have a significant impact on ATWS functionalities and on the consequent worksite safety. It should be remarked that any proposal of localization function for safety-critical devices must be compliant to the prescriptive safety standards of the railway domain.…”