Why do Japanese train drivers point at everything?
- Thread starter davesnow
- Start date
It is a technique designed to overcome a significant issue with any 'checklist' approach to operations. While checklists are a very powerful tool, there is a risk that checking the items becomes a rote procedure. If you have ever driven a car for a few miles and then realized that you weren't really paying attention, then that is the sort of attention drift that pointing at each item is intended to eliminate. Pointing to the item assists in ensuring that it really is checked and confirmed.
That was an issue we had during my computer operation days. Operators would check things off but never complete the job, which lead to dependent batch jobs failing and wreaking havoc with accounting and client services. Being a life insurance and annuity company, there were specific dependent jobs required for securities reporting because there are specific guidelines as to when stuff could be posted. With multiple dependencies, this got to be quite complex especially during the sales commissions cycle and quarter-end processing.
In our case, pointing wouldn't work, but what did work was a requirement that all operators initial their check-off sheets and to sign them. Anyone who missed something during their shift was disciplined initially with warnings then with terminated if this was an ongoing problem. That was fine for a one-off situation, but there were a couple of doozies. One coworker was caught sleeping on the job when I came in during my shift. He had completed no jobs but had everything checked off, and curled up in the supply closet for the night. He did this once and was terminated.
The pointing does seem like an alternative as you say to the rote checking off of steps, but I can see people getting just as comfy with pointing and forgetting the other parts of the process. Some of the actions by these operators was very mechanical, which to me makes me think they were focusing too hard on pointing.
I wasn't asking why, I knew why, I was just showing this for others who didn't know why.
That reminds me on something. I watch a TV show called Air Disasters, which is about various airplane incidents, such as crashes. I'm not interested in the actual crash, but the investigation into the incident. There were several incidents featured on this show that were caused by either the crew not completing a checklist that lists what features the plane has, skipping part of the checklist, or something else that has to do with the checklist, such as what caused the incident was not listed in the checklist.
EDIT: Fun fact: the 'Black Boxes' in a plane are in fact not black, but orange, so that it'll stand out among the various pieces of a wrecked plane.
cascaderailroad
New member
They are very country/military/federal job regimented and are highly professional, pointing, and the conductor points again to concur the drivers hand signal
I remember seeing that as well.
We need Bill H. to weigh in on this and see what he's got to say. I wonder what he's up to these days.
Saw a similar video where not only do they point at the indented action, they also say what they will do, and then do it. The voice-over explained that it was all designed to engage more than one sense, vision, voice, hearing, movement, to help the driver focus on the task. If you point a button A and say button B, the discordance should cause you to pause and check what you are about to do. At the speed some of those trains go, I'd like my driver to be extra careful.
Having worked in Aviation, I can add these boxes also have Beacons in them making them easier to locate as well as the ones we used self ejected on impact as well as floated in the event of water landings
Saying the action or name does reinforce the accuracy of the end results. When I was first studying piano, my earliest teacher had me play and say the notes as I learned new music. In the end, my playing became, and still is, quite accurate because the notes on the page are known to me inside and out. This of course is not critical as in flying an airplane or driving a train, but it does show how saying the action or name reinforces things.
Here's an answer from a driver, not a Japanese one, but we have similar methods which all newly qualified drivers must do (They can't force techniques upon the older drivers).
This is a form of "Press and Call" which is a form of "Risk Triggered Commentary".
Basically it helps your memory, if you point at something, you're registering it more than if you just looked at it. It helps it stay in your memory longer.
In the UK press and call is similar. The press is because we have a button we must depress when an alert sound plays (usually in rear of a speed warning board, or signal) we then have to vocalise the speed or the signal aspect, this helps it stay in your memory and stops you just acknowledging the alert sound and doing nothing (It also helps if you're being trained or assessed so whoever is training or assessing you knows what you're thinking).
The pointing is probably a variation of this and i've actually tried it myself after seeing these videos.
Also Japan is such a different culture to most of ours in the west, they're extremely efficient, disciplined and professional, you've all heard how they don't want to mess up because it brings shame on the family right?
He's probably doing it for his own memory also, covering his own back (ie, they would do it even if they were alone). I'm not sure about in Japan, but that might be another driver and not necessarily a conductor, Again depending on your definition of 'Conductor' In the UK a conductor is a guard and operates the doors/dispatches/sells tickets, but you can also be 'conducted' on a route, which is what might actually be happening in the video.
He could also be confirming things like you say, but unless any of us know any Japanese train drivers we may not know the true context of the video and why there is a second man in the cab. He could also be an instructor, or someone assessing.
We get conducted over routes we don't 'sign' (Aren't passed out on) in times of disruption when we need to make unusual movements.
This is a form of "Press and Call" which is a form of "Risk Triggered Commentary".
Basically it helps your memory, if you point at something, you're registering it more than if you just looked at it. It helps it stay in your memory longer.
In the UK press and call is similar. The press is because we have a button we must depress when an alert sound plays (usually in rear of a speed warning board, or signal) we then have to vocalise the speed or the signal aspect, this helps it stay in your memory and stops you just acknowledging the alert sound and doing nothing (It also helps if you're being trained or assessed so whoever is training or assessing you knows what you're thinking).
The pointing is probably a variation of this and i've actually tried it myself after seeing these videos.
Also Japan is such a different culture to most of ours in the west, they're extremely efficient, disciplined and professional, you've all heard how they don't want to mess up because it brings shame on the family right?
He's probably doing it for his own memory also, covering his own back (ie, they would do it even if they were alone). I'm not sure about in Japan, but that might be another driver and not necessarily a conductor, Again depending on your definition of 'Conductor' In the UK a conductor is a guard and operates the doors/dispatches/sells tickets, but you can also be 'conducted' on a route, which is what might actually be happening in the video.
He could also be confirming things like you say, but unless any of us know any Japanese train drivers we may not know the true context of the video and why there is a second man in the cab. He could also be an instructor, or someone assessing.
We get conducted over routes we don't 'sign' (Aren't passed out on) in times of disruption when we need to make unusual movements.
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In the US and Canada, the conductor on the train is responsible for the safety and operations while the driver is responsible for driving and following orders. In addition to the safety and other operational tasks, the conductor will manage doors and passengers on commuter and long distance passenger trains as well as call signals and handle dispatch orders for the driver. On the freight trains the conductor manages switching and coupling as well as managerial tasks such as payroll reporting, and other clerical duties related to operations. When not performing these duties, he/she will call signals and work with dispatching orders with the driver. A conductor's 10 hour shift is pretty busy even during "slow" periods.
Locomotives manufactured today have a feature like the 'Press' in 'Press and Call', which is also similar to the AWS system used on railroads in the U.K. It's called an 'Alerter'. It's a button that at routine intervals it'll make a buzzing sound. You have a certain amount of time to press the Alerter to stop it buzzing and 'reset' the system. After an allotted amount of time, it starts buzzing again, and then you have to push it again. This repeats continuously and is designed to make sure the engineer is alert and is not incapacitated in anyway, shape, form or fashion. If they don't push the button in the allotted amount of time, the brakes will automatically apply and brings the train to stop. Not surprisingly, when the engineer has a lot of explaining to do when his superiors ask him 'why did you not push the alerter in time?'
Also, Japan is probably the most techno-savvy country in the world. They gave us Canon, Capcom, Casio, Fujifilm, Hitachi, JVC, Konami, Mitsubishi, Namco, Nikon, Nintento, Olympus, Panasonic, Sanrio, Sanyo, Sega, Sharp, Sigma, Sony, etc. I've listed those that are involved in the video game and technology industry, but there are others, mainly in the automotive industry.
EDIT: Also, there's an interesting features about Japan's trains. People think that Switzerland's trains run like a Swiss watch: they are always on schedule, down to the minute. However, Japan's trains are always on schedule, but down to thesecond. In fact, one of Japan's railroad companies went on national television and apologize for a train being late. I don't know if there's any other railroad in the world that would do that.
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The 'deadman's pedal' was used before the 'Alerter', but the deadman's pedal had to be compressed at all times, otherwise if you took your foot off it the brakes automatically applied However, it was easily circumvented by putting something other than the foot on it. For example, a head-on collision between a Canadian National freight train and a Via Rail passenger train. The CN train was supposed to stop in a passing siding to let the Via Rail train to pass by. However, the engineer and conductor had fallen asleep because they were sleep-deprived and they circumvented the deadman's pedal by putting a lunchbox on the deadman's pedal, fooling the safety system into thinking that the engineer's foot was on the pedal. These actions were the cause of the collision. To prevent this from happening again, Canadian National invented the alerter, which has since become a standard safety feature on all modern locomotives.
That is how the subway (EL) or elevated third-rail trains work. The driver has to push and engage the throttle and push and hold down a deadman switch during operation. If he let's go of either, the train stops. Here's an interesting case where a driver attempted to bypass the system and caused a rather amusing, but dangerous incident that got him fired.
In early 2015 a driver on the Red Line subway line in Boston bypassed the brake and throttle mechanism and stepped out of his cab to bypass a red signal in the Braintree yard, but neglected to follow the normal operating procedure, which caused the train to run unmanned for a number of stops before the power was cut. The normal procedure was to stop, engage the brake, and throw the throttle into the stopped position, dismount from the train, press a button to change the signal or override the red, then climb back in and continue on his way.
This driver instead used his in-cab phone line to keep the throttle and brake engaged so that he could jump on the train and continue moving without having to charge up the systems.
Not shown in the picture is his rigging. The investigators determined that he had not engaged the brake so that the train shot out of the yard once the signal was changed. It was explained on another news channel that this is one of those electric-switch signals that cut the power to the third-rail so that when the switch is thrown on the signal, the power is connected to the yard track. In a normal operation, the driver would be in the cab and in control, but instead the train took off like a bat out of Hell, knocking him to the ground and giving a number of passengers a scary unmanned ride for several station stops before the power was cut.
After the investigation was done into the incident, he was terminated without receiving his 25-plus year pension. The union appealed but didn't go anywhere.
http://www.wcvb.com/article/david-vazquez-operator-of-runaway-red-line-train-fired-by-mbta/8229711
here you don't have to push to accelerate but to avoid some drivers that might block the system you have to:
touch every 58 seconds or hold and release the circle under the traction-steering every 58 seconds too otherwise you got a big "BIP" warning and without action the emergency brakes are engaged
touch every 58 seconds or hold and release the circle under the traction-steering every 58 seconds too otherwise you got a big "BIP" warning and without action the emergency brakes are engaged
The pushing is to keep the throttle engaged, otherwise, it will automatically disconnect and everything will go to neutral. From what I remember, there is no alerter system on the subway trains.
I got it but our train there's no need to push to keep the throttle engaged. There's no subway with alerter here too ( except the old stock rubber tyred and steel wheeled ) because all lines are automated ( except 3 fully driverless and 1 fully manual ) but the driver to doesn't loose the practice has to do a "two-way" trip in automatic and an another one in manual.
And he probably doesn't play tricks with the system while attempting to short-cut the safeties either.
I forgot about the old rubber-tyred system. I've seen it in pictures, but never in person.