Are elongated shoulders okay?
Train safety largely depends on the human factor. It is quite obvious that with the growth of traffic volume in the current locomotive fleet, the importance of the functional state of locomotive crews increases significantly. Hence, there are many problems that we will not get far without solving.
Currently, the work of locomotive crews on extended (double) shoulders is being widely implemented on the Kuibyshev road. In this regard, the question naturally arises: how to keep them healthy and highly efficient in today's difficult conditions?
Employees of the road psychological laboratory and depot psychologists conducted a monitoring survey of 25 locomotive crews on the routes Samara — Penza (389 km), Samara — Ruzaevka (381 km), Ulyanovsk — Bugulma (384 km), Abdulino — Oktyabrsk (410 km) and Ruzaevka — Rybnoye (429 km). At the same time, methods of direct field observation, semi-structured interviews, variational cardiointervalometry, and assessment of the critical frequency of light fusion were used.
light flashes, tapping test, blood pressure measurement, modified M. Lucher color test, the "Well-being, activity, mood" technique.
As a result, it was found that the vulnerable link of locomotive crews working on these shoulders is fatigue, which is the most severe in terms of possible consequences when working on diesel locomotives in freight traffic. Interestingly, at the same time, machinists subjectively underestimate the real psychophysiological costs of performing complicated work. In other words, the accumulation of fatigue is not felt in the form of a deterioration in well-being, which, as a result, can lead to inexplicable, at first glance, mistakes in train work or the development of psychosomatic diseases.
The rest conditions for locomotive crews serving the extended shoulders have practically remained the same and differ little from those in normal operation. In order to increase comfort in rest rooms, to organize psychophysiological unloading rooms, to improve nutrition, taking into account hygienic requirements and personal preferences of locomotive crew employees, additional financial resources are needed, which were not provided for in the annual plans.
The working conditions also do not meet regulatory requirements. There are no refrigerators in the cabins of the locomotives, which creates serious difficulties for storing food during the 10-11 hour trip. This is especially noticeable in hot weather. VNIIZHTA experts have found that at temperatures above 40 ° C, fatigue in the locomotive crew develops several times faster. During the control trips, other factors that negatively affect the functional condition of locomotive crews were noted: the lack of fans, effective protective sun visors, and bathrooms...
In almost all depots, some machinists and assistants are allowed to travel on elongated shoulders, who lack the necessary psychological qualities (vigilance, switching of attention, emotional and stress resistance), which, on the one hand, violates the requirements of the Ministry of Internal Affairs instruction No. 310u dated 12/01/99, and on the other hand, sharply increases the burden on the psyche, causes rapid overwork with all the ensuing consequences.
The problem of psychological compatibility of machinists and assistants is no less acute. It is quite difficult to endure an hour-long trip next to a person whom, for one reason or another, you do not trust, or who is annoying. The requirements of the regulatory documents regulating the activities of depot psychologists, which allow teams that have passed a full examination for psychological compatibility, to work on elongated shoulders, become clear.
The operating mode remains problematic. Under the existing regulations, it is not uncommon for a locomotive crew to return to their depot at night after a night trip. According to our data, as well as feedback from locomotive crews, the number of such trips should be limited, and the rest time between them should be increased.
Based on the conducted research, it was concluded that the transition to work on elongated shoulders without appropriate psychophysiological support will worsen the functional condition of the machinists and their assistants. And hence the increased risk of marriage in train work, the growth of chronic diseases.
Prevention, diagnosis and treatment are carried out by doctors, starting with a pre-trip examination and ending in the central clinical hospitals of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Maintaining and restoring working capacity is the responsibility of depot psychologists. In other words, dynamic monitoring of the functional state is reduced to systematic (at least once a quarter for employees, the same number per month for newcomers) 20-minute examinations using special hardware techniques. As a result, each employee generates their own database of survey results, from which the individual rate is automatically calculated, and all subsequent measurements are compared with it.
In this way, it is possible to obtain information about minimal disruptions in the body's work, without waiting for the development of overwork, fraught with "inexplicable" errors when driving a train and the development of a disease. Unfortunately, due to the lack of full-time psychologists at the depot, insufficient equipment with devices, it is not yet possible to organize full-fledged dynamic monitoring of the functional state of all locomotive crews of the road.
To prevent negative consequences during the intensification of work, it is necessary to limit the number of trips on extended shoulders, alternating them with three or four trips on regular sections. For the moral and psychological validity of the transition to work on extended shoulders, special attention should be paid to linking the working hours of locomotive crews to the train schedule, limiting the cases of their return by passengers and reserve. At the same time, reduce the number of trips with direct and return flights at night.
It is also necessary to take a differentiated approach to rest at the points of turnover of locomotive crews working on extended shoulders (special rooms with increased comfort, limited number of seats). Cabins of locomotives operated on elongated shoulders should be equipped with devices for regulating the microclimate and food storage. Locomotive crews can be allowed to train on elongated shoulders, in which the driver and his assistant have only the first group of psychological professional suitability, psychophysiological and socio-psychological compatibility.
Thus, the work of locomotive crews on elongated shoulders, despite all the economic attractiveness, requires an integrated approach with mandatory consideration of the human factor.
Candidate of Technical Sciences V.P. MOKHONKO, Chief Engineer of the Kuibyshev Road, PhD. PhD A.A. AVDEICHEV, Head of the Traffic Psychology Laboratory
05.07.2022, 04:54
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