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Legislative Update

Brotherhood leads the way in fighting fatigue by sleeping on the job

Canada's major railways and one of the industry's largest labour unions today released the finding of a landmark $3 million (US) scientific pilot project to reduce on-the-job fatigue for locomotive engineers and train crews.

In a move which went against every railroad tradition in Canada and attracted the attention of railways around the world, CN and CP recently tried a novel approach to fighting chronic crew fatigue: they allowed exhausted engineers to sleep on the job.

They simply radioed the dispatcher, pull their freight train into a siding, unroll a self inflating mattress and went to sleep on the floor of their locomotive.

A report on the joint study, the Canadian Alertness Assurance Program (CANALERT) was unveiled here at a press conference by the project's four participants and sponsors: Canadian National Railway (CN), CP Rail (CPR), national passenger operator VIA Rail Canada, and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers (BLE).

Twenty locomotive engineers at Calgary, working on the Laggan Sub and twenty locomotive engineers at Jasper working on the Alberata Sub, and ten locomotive engineers at Quebec City working for Via Rail, took part in this landmark Study. Not every locomotive engineer was allowed to do this, just the volunteers taking part in an experimental project with CN, CP, Via Rail and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers.

The CANALERT project is designed to find ways to combat fatigue among railway employees who work long, erratic shifts.

The joint labour-management initiative, the first of its kind in the world rail industry, provided a new understanding of the factors that influence locomotive engineers and train-crew fatigue and alertness.

"This initiative has put Canadian railways and BLE members at the forefront of rail safety," Jack McBain, senior vice-president of operations at CN, said of the study results.

"By improving our understanding of the physiological principles underlying fatigue and alertness, we've taken safety management to an unprecedented level of scientific precision and reliability."

Crew fatigue played a major role in the Hinton train crash in 1986, when the exhausted crew of a freight train ran through a stop signal and lead to Canada worst train accident. Ten years later the railways and locomotive engineers agree that fatigue is still their biggest concern.

A survey of 116 engineers done for the CANALERT project showed 92% admitted they had nodded off briefly on the job and had been awakened by the locomotive's reset sensor control system.

Ed Dodge, executive vice-president of operations at CPR, said CANALERT gives railways a new benchmark for performance. "This project is a scientific advance that could benefit railway employees and their families for many years to come. As well, it has the potential to benefit shift workers in many fields around the world.

"It's a special day when we in the railway industry can say we've participated in a project with such wide-ranging potential for workplace improvement, not only in our own industry, but in many other round-the-clock work environments, including the air, marine and trucking industries.

"It's the same old ancient problems since railroading began in Canada in 1836," says Brother Harry Home, Division 898, one of 20 CN engineers in Jasper who took part in the experiment. "The irregular hours are a real source of concern".

Even though he never felt the need to nap on the job, Brother Home said it was an excellent idea.

"I'm sure you've done this driving your car. You simply pull over, have a little snooze and away you go."

Besides allowing engineers and conductors to take naps, the project outfitted the crews with headsets and tape decks so they could listen to their favourite music, interrupted only by radio calls from the dispatcher.

The railways upgraded a few bunkhouse facilities for lay-overs.

"We were given perfectly quiet rooms with sleep inducers," says Brother Home. "One had a sound like crickets at night, another had ocean waves and foghorns. That worked well and the rooms were totally black."

CANALERT, financed entirely by the railways, was designed and implemented by Circadian Technologies Inc. (CTI), a management consulting firm specializing in human alertness and based in Cambridge, Mass. The project involved 50 locomotive engineers who volunteered for intensive study and pilot tests.

The pilot project report identifies a number of fatigue countermeasures as an alternative to the traditional regulatory approach to rail safety, under which hours of work rules are arbitrarily prescribed in federal legislation and collective bargaining agreements.

It also shows these rules are not designed to accommodate the physiological causes of fatigue.

During the pilot project, CTI researchers monitored the alertness levels of locomotive engineers at work and at rest, gathering data continuously from such devices as EEG (brain-wave) and EKG (heart rate) recorders.

By analyzing physiological and subjective data collected during actual operating conditions, researchers identified the root causes of train-crew fatigue and designed countermeasures to enhance on-track alertness.

The railways also vastly modified the volunteers' shift schedule, by using time pools which gave them a regular day, afternoon or evening shift. If they weren't called to work during their "window" they would be taken off the roster and be called the next day.

Normally locomotive engineers go to work at all hours of the day or night, their shifts as erratic as the timing of freight trains.

"I never had to call the crew office or worry about the line-up," says Brother Patrick Werbicki, Division 898. "I never had to wonder what day I'm going to be home with the kids. I knew I had a day off every other day and every two weeks I had three days off that were scheduled."

Once you get out of the range of Calgary, the music in the CD comes on and the trip passes easily" said Brother Al McGungial, Division 355. "With all of the countermeasures, it was a real pleasure to come to work. Time pools, with scheduled days off, is something I never thought would happen at CP Rail, but as the Study proceeded it actually happened."

"It was so simple. When you are driving your car and you feel tired, you turn on the radio to help you stay awake. Why not in the locomotive cab?" he said. "The headsets made all the difference in the noisy environment we work in. You could hear everything so clear and actually talk to the conductor without raising your voice to be heard."

"For the first time in many years, I have actually made my miles", said Brother Don Hays, Division 355. "I knew when I was going to work weeks in advance and could plan my family life and activities. It was just great."

The countermeasures were tested during five months of pilot train runs from Calgary to Field, B.C., on the CPR line, and from Jasper, Alta., to Blue River, B.C., on the CN line. Alertness testing was also conducted on VIA's high-speed passenger run between Quebec City and Montreal.

An analysis of VIA's operations, using CTI's Circadian Alertness Simulator software, showed there was no schedule induced risk of fatigue on more than 80 percent of the passenger railway's schedules.

"Our involvement in the CANALERT project is an example of new thinking; it will further enhance rail industry safety while improving the health and welfare of our employees, the security of their families and the safety of our passengers," said Vice President Mike Gushue, of VIA Rail. "Once again, Canada is taking a leading role in transportation safety. VIA is proud to have been a full partner in this important endeavor."

"It is important that we understand what goes on in the locomotive cab of high speed passenger service", said Brother Yves Gratton Division 558. "We have different problems from freight locomotive engineers but these problems are very real concerns to us and this Project was the first look at those problem."

The experiment was so unusual railroads around North American and Britain sent representatives to have a look.

For a few weeks at the beginning and the end of the six month experiment researchers attached electrodes to the engineers to monitor their brain waves, heart rhythm, and eye movement while on the job.

The researchers are trying to see if the improved working conditions made a physiological difference to the workers.

Having wires attached to them for hours at a time was a minor inconvenience. "I've been around since 1949 and I have never felt more relaxed," says Brother Home. "I never had to take a nap because after being on the new shift I was hardly ever tired at work," says Brother Werbicki. "Having the advantage of having a nap on a trip was a real plus." said Brother Don Anderson, Division 898. "It gave you that little extra need to complete the trip".

Among the fatigue countermeasures tested during the pilot project were:

1. Regular train-crew work schedules or shifts, engineers developed regular work/rest and sleep/wake patterns, promoting increased on-the-job alertness and improved health and quality of life.
2. Radical new sleep strategies. During the study, locomotive engineers respond favorably to en-route naps, sleeping for up to 20 minutes while their trains were stopped in sidings. As well, tests proved the benefits of strategic napping before and after duty.
3. Improved bunkhouse conditions. As part of the experiment, bunkhouse improvements were made at CN's terminal in Blue River, including the installation of noise and light insulation to induce sleep and reduce sleep disruptions while engineers were between train runs.
4. Locomotive Cab Audio Systems. Engineers tested headsets that block out locomotive noise and provide music stimulation during train runs. The music automatically cut out when engineers were communicating by radio with conductors or rail traffic controllers.
5. Customized "lifestyle" training for locomotive engineers and their families, a counseling program that covered such shiftwork issues as the biological clock, sleep habits, nutrition and family relationships.

"The countermeasures tested during this study present railways, employees and regulators with a viable new way of working in the 24-hour-a-day railway operating environment," Dr. Martin Moore-Ede, the president of CTI, said.

"CANALERT provides the railway industry with a set of scientifically validated countermeasures to improve not only train-crew alertness, but employee morale, health and absenteeism."

He pointed out that tests showed the countermeasures could be implemented without impeding railway operating requirements, transit times or traffic flows.

CANALERT was a victory for labour management relations, Brother George Hucker, International Vice President and National Legislative Representative Canada said.

"This project would have been impossible to achieve without the full support and co-operation of the Brotherhood's membership and management. The managers and locomotive engineers who participated in this study worked together and devoted a vast amount of time, energy, and resources to make the project succeed. As the report shows, their total commitment paid off."

"The countermeasures, when implemented, will make significant changes in the work environment and life styles of the locomotive engineers." he said. "The Study Recommendations will be the stepping stone for those changes."

The railways have presented the finding of CANALERT to Transport Canada for review and are assessing the report to determine how fatigue countermeasures can be implemented across their networks.