Wireless Communication-based Safety Alarm Equipment for Trackside Worker

Abstract

According to results of the analysis on present condition of railway accidents in Korea, about 50% of them are recorded as railway casualties based on the number of incidence in railway accident, and if converted into the equivalent fatality index(1 fatality = 10 seriously injured persons = 200 slightly injured persons), the equivalent fatality index caused by casualties occupies 94% of the equivalent fatality index for total railway accidents[1]. These railway casualties are consisted of the casualties by railway transportation and the casualties by railway safety. Casualties by railway transportation refer to the accidents where casualties occur to the passengers, crews, workers, etc. by railway vehicles, and the casualties by railway safety mean the accidents where casualties occur to the passengers, crews, workers, etc. by railway facilities without any direct rear-end collision or contact with railway vehicles. That is, accidents such as the falling down or misstep at platform, electric shock, getting jammed to vehicle doors, etc. correspond to casualties by railway safety. Many measures are being studied to prevent and reduce casualties by railway transportation in such a way that casualties by railway transportation are analyzed to have occupied about 87% among casualties which occupy more than 90% of the equivalent fatality index for total railway accidents, etc.[2-7]. As explained previously, in case of the public casualties by railway transportation which occupy most of the railway accidents, since screen doors were installed or are under progress at almost all of the station buildings for metropolitan transit, they play epoch-making roles in the reduction of casualties. However, studies on safety equipment to protect trackside workers who are employees as target persons of casualties have seldom accomplished yet. When doing maintenance works for the track or signaling equipment at the trackside of railway, the method which delivers information on approaching of train to maintenance workers through alarm devices such as the flag or indication light, etc., if they recognize the approach of train, is being used by locating persons in charge of safety alarm in addition to the maintenance workers at fixed distances in the front and rear of the workplace. Workers maintaining at the trackside may collide with the train since they cannot recognize the approach of train although it approaches to the vicinity of maintenance workplace because of the sensory block phenomenon occurred due to their long hours of continued monotonous maintenance work. And in case of the metropolitan transit section, when doing the maintenance work at night for track facilities, clash or rear-end collision accidents