A University of Queensland research team will test the safety training of many of NSW’s 9000 rail staff so they can better manage stress and crises.
There have been several train accidents in NSW in recent years with inquests recommending staff have more training in decision making and problem solving skills to respond to unexpected emergencies.
NSW’s rail authority, RailCorp, has contracted the UQ team to evaluate its virtual reality (VR) accident and disaster training program .
RailCorp’s operational staff from signallers, station workers, drivers, guards to transit officers– train with the computer generated simulations to improve safety.
The UQ team is led by Dr Jennifer Tichon, a computer and human behaviour expert with the School of Human Movement Studies.
It includes Dr Guy Wallis, a Senior Research Fellow also in Human Movement Studies and Associate Professor Justin Kenardy, the director of Clinical Psychology with the School of Psychology.
They will measure if rail workers’ decision making and problem solving skills have improved since VR training was introduced two years ago.
The VR simulations include train collisions, passengers falling off platforms or being trapped in doors, underground fires, track work accidents and handling drunken passengers.
Dr Tichon said the project was innovative because it was one of the few attempts to use the psychological benefits of VR training outside combat or flight training.
“Past training had focussed on having a rule for each situation. People were trained to stay within their role, not think outside the square,” Dr Tichon said.
“Train simulators have been used for years to teach the physical skills of driving a train. The immersive VR allows us to progress beyond the physical to the psychological realm.”
The group’s results will guide future updates to make more realistic computer scenarios.
“Flight simulators have been used for years to train pilots to manage stressful situations and to improve their critical decision making,” Dr Wallis said.
“This project aims to apply the same technology to more diverse situations, making it of benefit to a broader range of staff and industries.”
The team, which is due to start its research in December, has received $210,000 over two years from the Federal Government’s research funding arm, the Australian Research Council, to cover staff costs.
RailCorp has spent about $22 million on its VR training and maintenance program which includes big 150º screens which can be viewed by up to 40 workers.
For more information contact Dr Tichon on (email: jtichon@uq.edu.au) or Miguel Holland at UQ Communications (phone: 3365 2619, email: m.holland@uq.edu.au)
Photos available from Diana Lilley at UQ Images (phone: 3365 2753, email: d.lilley@uq.edu.au)
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