United States Department of Transportation
i
Fatigue and alertness in the United States railroad industry part II: fatigue research in the Office of Research and Development at the Federal Railroad Administration
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2000-03-31
[PDF-75.76 KB]
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NTL Classification:NTL-RAIL TRANSPORTATION-RAIL TRANSPORTATION;NTL-RAIL TRANSPORTATION-Rail Safety;NTL-SAFETY AND SECURITY-Human Factors;NTL-SAFETY AND SECURITY-Rail Safety;
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Abstract:A new approach for improving safety in the U.S. railroad industry was initiated in the 1990's by the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA). The FRA has stressed cooperative partnerships with other federal agencies, railroad management, labor unions, and the states as the primary means to obtain compliance with railroad safety regulations. The Federal Hours of Service Act of 1907 regulates the U.S. railroad industry. It imposes maximum work hours and minimum rest periods. However, this act does not limit employees' weekly or monthly work hours, restrict the irregularity or unpredictability of on-call work schedules, or restrict mandatory commuting distances without compensatory time off. Extensive night work, irregular work schedules, extended work periods with few or no days off, and the policies, procedures, and agreements that encompass these work scheduling practices, all evolved within the provisions of this act. It is not clear, though, that broad changes in the hours of service laws are the answer to these problems. Consequently, the Office of Research and Development at the FRA, with its Fatigue Research Program, had embarked on the above-mentioned non-prescriptive approach to better manage fatigue in the railroad industry. This program includes the development and implementation of improved fatigue data collection methodologies, better measurement and evaluation tools, and more effective fatigue countermeasure strategies. The North American Rail Alertness Partnership (NARAP) has become an important means for understanding the fatigue-related problems in various operation settings, and for identifying specific programmatic areas that will better meet the needs of the industry. The program goals of improving the feasibility, utility, and cost effectiveness of fatigue management are to be realized with the cooperative efforts of the government, unions, and the railroad industry, particularly NARAP, and by broadly disseminating important technical findings through journal publications and conference proceedings.
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