How to Manage Incident and Injury Risks in Rail Operations

Operating industrial railway tracks at large facilities involves intensive shunting operations, heavy train movements in confined areas, and the presence of contractors. When monthly freight turnover exceeds 3 million tons of ore and fertilizers, and the fleet comprises over 9,000 railcars and 70 locomotives across 480 kilometers of track, standard safety briefings are not enough. Ivan Negrey, Head of Industrial Safety Department at JSC Apatit (PhosAgro Group), examines a five-year transformation of plant railway safety, where fatal injuries have been completely eliminated since 2022.

Incident Causes and Severe Injury Patterns

Building proactive protection relies on five years of statistical data. Nearly 30% of rail incidents are caused by Arctic weather conditions, where heavy snowfalls and blizzards lead to derailments. Collisions between motor vehicles and trains at poorly lit level crossings in the dark rank second, while violations of radio communication protocols among locomotive drivers, dispatchers, and shunters—exacerbated by external radio interference—rank third.

An analysis of severe injuries reveals different risk factors:

• Entering restricted-clearance zones (around 40% of severe injuries). Critical risk arises when a person is caught or crushed between a railcar and infrastructure or equipment, such as an electric winch while securing a train.
• Being in the line of fire of moving trains (15% of cases) and climbing over automatic couplers or crossover platforms. Typical scenarios include slipping near a moving railcar with a hand getting caught under a wheelset, or a locomotive striking a track worker from behind while they work wearing headphones in a blizzard.

Training Overhaul and Contractor Engagement

To move away from complex manuals and a check-the-box approach, the company introduced visual and practical training tools:

• Modular rating system and simulators. In a LAN-equipped computer lab, locomotive crews undergo training and testing on railway operating rules, with individual progress tracked over time. Railcar maintenance specialists practice troubleshooting on a training railcar, while newly introduced driver-instructors and rail safety inspectors assess personnel readiness for independent work.
• In-house video content and comic-style pocket guides. Safety briefings feature a seven-minute video shot by internal IT specialists and safety inspectors on an actual track section with a locomotive to safely stage and demonstrate violations. Additionally, workers, including contractors, receive visual pocket guides.
• Coaching visits for contractors. Instead of issuing fines, safety inspectors and department heads go out to the field to meet contractor crews, correct unsafe acts on the spot, and gather feedback on improving working conditions.

Infrastructure Solutions and Hazard Zone Visualization

Engineering controls focus on physically preventing collisions and struck-by incidents. High-risk pinch-point areas are equipped with cameras feeding live video to the control room monitor and "Restricted Clearance" signs with custom-designed LED backlighting. To mark silent, multi-ton electric railcar movers operating 24/7 inside workshops and underground workings, high-power floodlights and projection equipment are used to cast a bright light boundary around the hazard zone on the ground.

To prevent derailments during major track overhauls, wooden sleepers are replaced with reinforced concrete ones to ensure stable track geometry, accompanied by ultrasonic rail flaw detection. Microprocessor-based interlocking of switches and signals has been implemented, automatically switching the signal to red if the route is occupied by another train. Dim incandescent signals have been replaced with LEDs, and level crossings have been fitted with driver warning systems and video enforcement cameras.

Locomotive Digitalization and Automated Safety Systems

The presentation covers in detail a suite of onboard innovations that safeguard locomotive drivers against human error and sudden medical incapacitation:

• Onboard machine vision system. The automated system detects obstacles within the track clearance profile and monitors switches and signal aspects. If the driver fails to react in time to equipment in the hazard zone or passes a red signal, the system automatically applies emergency braking—a feature that has already prevented several collisions.
• Telemetry safety wristbands. 100% of locomotive drivers wear these sensors, which is especially critical during single-driver operations. The wristband measures galvanic skin resistance: if resistance drops due to loss of consciousness, an in-cab alarm sounds, and if the driver fails to press the vigilance acknowledgement button, the locomotive comes to an emergency stop.
• Video monitoring and digital radio. All diesel locomotives are equipped with internal and external cameras with up to 20 days of onboard storage to record crew actions, control positions, and instrument readings during shunting. In parallel, digital shunting radio communication is being rolled out, and VR simulators are being developed to train personnel without going out onto the tracks.

What You Will Learn from This Presentation

• How to organize and shoot engaging rail safety training videos in-house without a budget for external production agencies?
• How to use projection equipment and LED indicators to protect personnel from silent electric railcar movers and crushing hazards in restricted-clearance zones?
• How do the onboard machine vision system and driver telemetry wristband operate when facing an imminent collision or driver incapacitation?
• What is the approximate cost of equipping a single locomotive with a machine vision system, and how can such projects be phased in across an enterprise?
• How to shift contractor oversight on railway tracks from punitive enforcement to coaching visits and joint risk reduction?