Valuable briefing experience or an early day?
Network Rail’s Justin Willett returns with a SPAD column to ask how we keep knowledge alive during day-to-day operations.
How do we keep our understanding of high-risk but rare situations alive so that when we encounter them they really are front of mind?
We often deliberately over-train some of these things, as they’re part of dusty documents that probably don’t see the light of day very often and get read by much fewer people than those they apply to. . I am of course talking about Risk-Based Training Needs Assessments. However, they are critical and should articulate the practical areas that are higher risk, experienced at a lower frequency and therefore need a different training solution. Basically, it needs to be done in an environment that’s similar, if not the same, as the live one. Simulators and simulation rule.
Many years ago, I experienced a very close call as a driver. I was asked to do a wrong direction movement. I thought both I and the signaller had been very clear, but I did stop before a set of points just to clarify something where I was asked to ‘wait for the change’. When I realised, I focused on the road ahead, and my speed… and missed a ground position light signal that was now facing my movement.
I knew it was there but had never approached it, as it was for shunting and ‘bang road’ movements, exactly like the one I was performing. I had stopped short of it by more luck that judgement, as it definitely was not part my conversation with the signaller.
This bought home the need to almost ‘over-train’ moves like this when I was later training new drivers, supported by the risk-based training needs assessment (RBTNA), which confirmed it to be a high-risk activity.
It then became part of a regular briefing, to make sure it remained front of mind when performing wrong direction moves.
There were other concepts, such as never taking a green hand signal displayed at a level crossing as permission to pass the signal that protects it – all properly trained and frequently briefed.
I also remember people saying that these situations do not happen in real life, so why put them on a simulator? But the control logs show they can, and do, happen. But how well do we continue to train and brief these infrequent but higher risk traps? Do we keep our known and usual suspects alive so they’re not forgotten and so people don’t fall into the traps?
How well is the content valued so that what’s covered in a briefing room does make its way to the cab or signal box when needed? Or is the first question ‘what time do we finish?’, shortly followed by ‘keep quiet, don’t ask questions, and we’ll get an early day’?