There have been several serious railway accidents in Debrecen and its catchment area recently, so we are inquiring about the support that railway workers, especially train drivers, receive in the processing of accidents. We were also curious to see if there were any statistics on whether there were any redundancies among machinists after fatal accidents.
According to MÁV’s information, accidents at railway crossings are caused by the inattention of those who enter them and the violation of the traffic regulations. There have been no fatal accidents on the entire Hungarian network since 2008. Domestic railway safety is favorable in the region and, more broadly, within the European Union.
Unfortunately, there have also been deaths or injuries in recent years due to the inattention of road users. As the train has a braking distance of hundreds of meters, they have almost no chance of preventing a collision at the gateway.
This is also covered in the training
In the first phase of driver training, the General Professional Knowledge module includes the topic “General Risks Associated with Railway Operation” and the topic “Knowledge of Behavioral Psychological Skills and Principles”. In addition, the educational material includes stress management and preparation for coping in extreme situations. Occupational psychological testing is mandatory for the preliminary medical examination of train drivers. Active drivers receive knowledge of psychosocial risks through periodic training; their treatment, reduction proposal.
What happens after the accidents?
In the event of a run or collision, the accident investigators asked at the scene, almost the first question that
whether the driver undertakes further service or rather requests to be replaced.
If the accident does not affect the performance in the service, the driver shall continue to work.
If, however, the driver of the railway vehicle feels unable to continue working as a result of the mental trauma caused by the accident, the operation manager shall, at his request, send another driver to replace him. If, later on, even the next day, you feel that you are still unable to process the shock he has received, you can, of course, seek medical help.
The driver may also request an exemption from his subordinate services for three days after the incident under “rehabilitation leave”, but may also request mentoring if he/she deems it necessary to process the trauma he/she has experienced.
After the “rehabilitation leave”, the requested mentor accompanies the driver in two services, to whom he mainly provides spiritual support.
The driver may also decide to require specialist care. In this case, you can turn to the territorially competent occupational health doctor of Vasút Egészségügyi Nonprofit Közhasznú Kft., With whose help the necessary specialist medical care is provided.
In 2021, a total of 51 railway drivers have benefited from special opportunities provided by their employer, rehabilitation leave, and/or mentoring. It is not known about a case when a driver would have left his profession due to a wading or collision accident – we found out from the competent authority of MÁV.
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