Keeping track of railway safety and the mechanisms for risk

Abstract

A major technological shift is occurring in the railways giving rise to new safety concerns. The speed in which change is occurring along with technological trends is significant for an industry that can have major consequences when things go wrong. This surging technological shift has prompted re-examination of the literature related to the risks associated with system integration in high-risk (or safety-critical) industries. The aim of this paper is to raise awareness of potential health and safety risks emerging in the railway industry. Two mechanisms of risk that may have impact upon the success of an integrated railway are discussed, namely the human-automation design and progressive integration efforts. Past lessons learned are drawn from the literature that are considered relevant to current trends in the railways. The paper concludes with a presentation of six prevailing trends that raise concern for safety in the railways, namely: the shifting cognitive challenges for operators of centralised control systems, end-user adoption of systems that continuously rise in complexity, the growing prevalence of sedentary work particularly in control rooms, developing data security and privacy concerns, expanding demands for data analytics and an emerging paradigm shift in safety practice. For each trend, future research needs are presented.