Rail safety awareness (Japan)

EDITORIAL: Rail safety awareness

2010/11/05

Have calls for safety simply become lip service? In October, a rapid train exceeded the speed limit when it entered the curve where a commuter train derailed in April 2005 in Amagasaki, Hyogo Prefecture, on the JR Takarazuka Line, killing 107 people.

Thanks to the automatic train stop (ATS) system that was installed after the 2005 disaster, the train was halted and an accident was prevented. But the incident was a chilling reminder of the terrible loss of lives.

What concerns us is the driver's comment: "I was late in applying the brakes because I was thinking of something else." What happened to the improvement of safety awareness that has been chanted like a mantra?

Recently, West Japan Railway Co. (JR West) has been the subject of a number of disturbing reports.

A conductor was arrested on suspicion of removing a fuse from a backup power source for a radio system that transmits alerts to nearby trains in emergencies.

In a tunnel on the Sanyo Shinkansen Line, maintenance trains collided after an employee of a JR sub-subcontractor was driving over the speed limit.

Speakers for the ATS and emergency brake systems in the driver's cab have been found covered with tape or stuffed with paper because they were too loud. As a result, drivers are not hearing the alarms until the systems go into operation to stop the train.

JR West has said it made a "basic safety plan" and is tackling "risk assessment."

Each section of the company is required to properly assess danger factors that could lead to accidents, report them and set priorities to deal with each case. That is the idea of risk assessment. It requires close communication within the organization and between employees. It is also aimed at changing the so-called top-down corporate climate.

However, the series of safety incidents has given rise to suspicion that the sense of crisis is waning again with the passage of five and a half years since the derailment. It is particularly serious that problems are arising among drivers and conductors, who are directly responsible for overseeing safety.

An investigative team of the transport ministry recently surveyed drivers who had passed the curve on the Takarazuka Line before the accident. Twenty-one percent said they had passed it over the speed limit. The company had been explaining that drivers do not exceed speed limits by a large margin.

The survey results show there has been a gap in safety awareness between the company and its train crews.

Not only JR West, but all transport systems need to ensure good communication between the front office and the personnel with hands on the controls. Good communication builds mutual trust and unity and fosters the formation of a safety culture.

Lessons of major accidents must not be forgotten. JR West must not make light of minor accidents and near misses and should re-examine its level of safety awareness among of all employees and related parties.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Nov. 4