The role of the human factor in railway accidents

Introduction. Emergencies in railway transport cannot be completely eliminated only as a result of organizational or technical measures. The share of human error as the main cause of traffic accidents in the world has a growing trend. At the same time, insufficient attention is paid to the role of reducing the functional state of an employee in increasing the risk of accidents in the train safety management system. The study aims to establish the role of the "human factor" in the occurrence of transport accidents based on the analysis of the results of pre-trip medical examinations (PTME) and psychophysiological examinations (PFE) of locomotive crew workers (LCW), and to evaluate the effectiveness of the existing system of measures to ensure train safety (ETS). Methods and materials. The authors analyzed the causes and circumstances of 22 accidents and 343,510 disruptions in the work of locomotive crews at Russian Railways in the period 2022-2024 in accordance with official data and analysis results of the automated system "Trusted Environment" (AS TE). Specialists assessed the functional state of LCW: PFE in UPDC‑MK, OA Neurocom; PTME in KAPD-02-ST; dynamic control of the functional state (DCFS) with the definition of the groups "norm", "maladaptation", "failure of adaptation" based on the analysis of 542578 records of person-days (339,890 — the main group and 202,688 — the control group). Based on the results of the analysis of disorders and the level of functional status, an integrated risk group and a preventive group (RG/PG) were formed from the NBD-2 Automated control system, PTME, DCFS and PFE. Results. An analysis of the incidents shows that frequent gross violations are cases of stop signal overrun (SSO). The risk of SSO is 1.6-3 times higher among machinists than among assistant machinists and trainees and is more often detected in the age group of 30-69 years compared with groups of 20–29 years and over 70 years, p<0.001. In the state of "failure of adaptation", the risk of violations is higher than in the state of "norm" OR=1.10 [1.07–1.12], p<0.001. It was found that 87% of violations are committed by 39% of LCW that were included in GR/PG 2 or more times within 3 months before the violation; 68% of violations are committed by 11% of LCW who were included in GR/PG 3 or more times; 49% of violations are committed by 1.7% of machinists who 4 times and more were included in GR/PG. 49.50 [7.74–99.23] hours of processing per year were detected in persons with violations, 32.50 [0.00–67.58] hours in persons without violations, p<0.001. Limitations. The research conducted is limited in terms of taking into account the specifics of the detected violations and the severity of their consequences. Conclusion. In the vast majority of cases, traffic jams, gatherings, fires and other gross violations are committed by drivers who are irresponsible, undisciplined and/or have a decrease in their functional state. A direct relationship was revealed between the forecast of the driver's inclusion in the PG/RG and the results of the automated pre-trip medical examination system.