Exploring the Perception of Job Stress and the Effect of Consecutive Driving on Accident Risk for Train Drivers

• Main Authors: Ju, Lai-Shun, 朱來順
• Other Authors: Chang, Hsin-Li
• Format: Others
• Language: en_US
• Published: 2008
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/25751287514465933889

博士 === 國立交通大學 === 運輸科技與管理學系 === 97 === This study explores the difficulties of various stressors for train drivers, as well as to identify the relationship between hours of consecutive driving and train accident risk. The first step was to develop an approach to measure the difficulties of various stressors for train drivers. Through focus group discussions and experts’ judgments, a questionnaire was designed to explore the stressors confronted by train drivers while driving. A census survey was used to collect responses of train drivers from the Taiwan Railway Administration (TRA), and the Rasch model, which can estimate values on an interval scale from ordinal responses, was then applied to explore the perceived difficulties of various stressors to be confronted while driving. The study results showed that most of the critical stressors come from the external driving environment. The study results provide valuable information about the stressors confronted by train drivers, and provide consultation assistance on railway safety management. The second part of the study examined the relationship between driver responsible accidents and on-board driving hours to determine the effect of consecutive driving hours on accident risk. The data collected from the Taiwan Railway Administration for the period 1996-2006 was used to compute accident rates for varied accumulated driving hours for passenger and freight trains. The results showed that accident risk grew with increased consecutive driving hours for both passenger and freight trains, and doubled that of the first hour after four consecutive hours of driving. Additional accident risk was found for freight trains during the first hour due to required shunting in the marshalling yards where there are complex track layouts and semi-automatic traffic controls. Also, accident risk for train driving increased more quickly over consecutive driving hours than for automobile driving, and accumulated fatigue caused by high working pressure and monotony of the working environment are considered to be part of the reason. To prevent human error accidents, enhancing safety equipment, driver training programs, and establishing a sound auditing system are suggested and discussed.