Railway Accidents Research Articles

Analysis of surgical management and outcome of Blunt abdominal trauma

Background: Trauma, in particular, blunt abdominal trauma, associated with vehicular accidents and railway accident, has become major cause of morbidity and mortality for working population in developing and industrial nations of world. Hence the present study was undertaken to assess the surgical management and outcome of Blunt abdominal trauma. Method: 49 cases of blunt abdominal trauma studied during study period in a tertiary care hospital. On admission a relevant history with nature of accident, time of occurrence and injuries sustained were noted. A detailed examination of the patient was done, which included general examination with appropriate recording of pulse, blood pressure, and respiratory rate at time of admission, and systemic examination of chest abdomen and central nervous system. Details of external, skeletal and other associated injuries were noted. Presence or absence of hematuria was also recorded. Result: Predominantly younger population (21-30) is affected by trauma with male (10-1) preponderance. Vehicular accident was the commonest cause (48.4%). Blind abdominal tap was 53% sensitive for hemoperitoneum while USG 90%. CT was almost 100% sensitive for abdominal injuries. Spleen (53.08%) and liver (22.44%) were the common organs injured. Associated injuries were present in 42.85% cases. Mortality was higher in those operated beyond one hour. Conclusion: Prevention and measures to decrease morbidity and mortality from abdominal trauma is essential to avoid loss of productive years of life. Trauma registry with documentation of care delivered, assessment of outcome and implementation of necessary changes would help in providing better care.

1B1-4 A study of “small changes from usual” - from examples of railway accidents -

1B1-4 A study of “small changes from usual” - from examples of railway accidents -

Understanding railway operational accidents using network theory

Learning from past accidents in railway operations is valuable for ensuring the future safety of railway operations. Railway operational accidents are of different types, such as collisions and derailments. Different types of railway operational accidents are related to each other due to the interactions between hazards leading to accidents. It is useful to explore the nature of accidents as a set. In this paper, a new network theory-based approach to understanding railway operational accidents is proposed, which aims to reveal latent patterns of hazards from an overall high-level perspective. This approach serves as a complement to conventional network theory-based analyses. Its originality is in the customization of a topological analysis for studying accidents, with several tailored indicators adapting to the characteristics of railway operational accidents. It also provides a practical way to extract and construct the accident causation network from numerous accident investigation reports. The outcomes of this approach could assist railway operators in formulating more targeted accident prevention strategies and approaches. The method has been applied to real railway operational accidents in the UK. The results show that the proposed approach is effective and practical in terms of capturing important causes of accidents and revealing latent rules of railway operational accidents.

A study on quality of life among lower limb amputees at a tertiary prosthetic rehabilitation center

BackgroundLimb loss is one of the most physically and psychologically devastating events causing major disfigurement, rendering people less mobile, and at risk for loss of independence. This research aims to study the quality of life (QoL) among lower limb amputees (LLAs) at a tertiary prosthetic rehabilitation center. MethodsThe present study is based on the self-perceived QoL of new LLAs reporting to a tertiary prosthetic rehabilitation center for prosthesis using World Health Organization Quality of Life-BREF scale. Results35% of this study population were currently serving personnel of Indian Armed Forces, while 17.3% were dependents. 17.3% of the study participants were retired Indian Armed Forces personnel. 51.5% of study participants had undergone a lower limb amputation following trauma; 22.7% of the traumatic amputations had resulted from road traffic accidents, 16.7% from trauma sustained following railway accidents, and combat-related injuries accounted for 11.4% of traumatic lower limb amputations. Diabetic foot/gangrene was responsible for 32% of lower limb amputations in the current study. Overall QoL score of 78.76 (standard deviation [SD] = 15.03) was seen revealing highest mean score in environmental domain 26.59 (SD = 5.38), followed by physical domain, psychological domain, and lowest score being in social domain. ConclusionWhen judging the success or failure of lower limb amputation, the assessment of QoL outcome is paramount. A number of factors need to be taken into consideration to ensure holistic reintegration of the amputees back into the society.

“HUMAN FACTOR” AS THE MAIN CAUSE OF RAILWAY ACCIDENTS

The modern development of science and technology has practically resolved the issue of ensuring the reliability of technical means, but the influence of man as an integral part of the man-machine man-technology system, remains not fully investigated.
 The problem of the influence of the human factor is versatile, complex structurally and is currently far from being resolved.
 Rail transport is a complex system in which the individual is the main element. Therefore, the nature and degree of influence of a person, as an element of such a system, on traffic safety is determined by the nature and degree of his participation in the processes of functioning of an automated railway transport system.
 The "human factor" is considered in almost all processes of the railway transport system. It depends on a person the level of labor and technological discipline, timely control and proper hazard assessment, reasonableness and correctness of actions in the field of their professional activities to prevent and prevent railway accidents.
 The variety of railway accidents that investigated in Lviv NDISE indicate that it is impossible to use standard mechanisms for cases where the “human factor” is considered, but requires a thoughtful individual approach to developing a mechanism for each case separately.
 The task of the expert in the study of railway accidents, in which the influence of the “human factor” is considered, is to establish the degree of its influence on the implementation (realization) of the refusal of the mechanism of a railway accident at the moments when some railway situations turn into others.

Research on Emergency Management of Major Engineering Accidents from the Perspective of Engineering Communication:Taking the "7.23" Railway Accident as An Example

By analyzing the communication process, path, and consequence of the "7.23 major accident of railway engineering" , this research study has established that the numerous and jumbled fragments of accident information and uncertain accident trends will not only cause serious anxiety to the public but also trigger rumors,which when catalyzed by the manifold communication channels, multi-stakeholders, on-site rescue teams, credibility of government agencies, effectiveness of accident investigation, positive image of engineering, and public understanding and participation in engineering practices, will continue to deteriorate under the given circumstances. Thus, an open and anonymous accident reporting system and full-time spokesman that are in line with the principle of public voluntary announcement and conform to government guidance is required; using multimedia with plain language to convert engineering accidents into precious opportunities for the public will enable better understanding of engineering accidents. This will also serve to effectively mitigate the possibility of future engineering accidents and their development into public crises.

A Train-Centric Communication-Based New Movement Authority Proposal for ETCS-2

Railway accidents inevitably happen around the world although the latest automatic train protection (ATP) or similar train control systems have been widely used. To increase the safety of train control systems, we propose a new train protection solution called movement authority plus (MA+). MA+ is designed to be overlaid onto a current train control system, e.g., European Train Control System Level 2 (ETCS-2), to form a parallel control system. Its system structure and working principles are presented. Redundant train-distance measurement strategies are adopted to ensure its availability. Safety performance of the overall system is evaluated and it is compared with ETCS-2. Benefit from the real-time information exchange between on-board MA+ units and that between them and switch announcement units, MA+ works based on the moving block principle. We calculate the minimum train headway distance required by MA+ and compare it with that required by ETCS-2. The results prove the feasibility of the proposed MA+ solution, i.e., MA+ is able to protect train safety when ETCS-2 fails, and would not interrupt its normal work.

Contribution of Artificial Intelligence to Risk Assessment of Railway Accidents

In the design, development, and operation of a rail transport system, all the actors involved use one or more safety methods to identify hazardous situations, the causes of hazards, potential accidents, and the severity of the consequences that would result. The main objective is to justify and ensure that the design architecture of the transportation system is safe and presents no particular risk to users or the environment. As part of this process of certification, domain experts are responsible for reviewing the safety of the system, and are being brought in to imagine new scenarios of potential accidents to ensure the exhaustiveness of such safety studies. One of the difficulties in this process is to determine abnormal scenarios that could lead to a particular potential accident. This is the fundamental point that motivated the present work, whose objective is to develop tools to assist certification experts in their crucial task of analyzing and evaluating railway safety. However, the type of reasoning (inductive, deductive, by analogy, etc.) used by certification experts as well as the very nature of the knowledge manipulated in this certification process (symbolic, subjective, evolutionary, empirical, etc.) justify that conventional computer solutions cannot be adopted; the use of artificial intelligence (AI) methods and techniques helps to understand the problem of safety analysis and certification of high-risk systems such as guided rail transport systems. To help experts in this complex process of evaluating safety studies, we decided to use AI techniques and in particular machine learning to systematize, streamline, and strengthen conventional approaches used for safety analysis and certification.

Reliability, availability and maintainability analyses for railway infrastructure management

Reliable, available, maintainable and safe operation in railway transportation is significant for passenger and freight transportation. For these reasons, European Union put into practice a standard in 1999 known as EN 50126 to prevent railway accidents and to ensure a high level of safety in railway operations. The EN 50126 standard consists of these following concepts: Reliability, Availability, Maintainability and Safety (RAMS). These concepts are also recognised as RAMS analyses, which enable to do risk analyses to minimise the risks to the acceptable levels. In this study, a model framework including some stages was developed and the Reliability, Availability and Maintainability (RAM) analyses were applied to the railway infrastructure management. In addition, a case study was analysed for Uzbekistan high-speed railways between Tashkent and Sirdaryo train stations. The RAM analysis techniques were used during the analysis stages. The analyses were performed for the track geometry and the each type of railway track components to achieve a reliable, available and maintainable railway infrastructure management.

REQUIRED MATERIALS FOR EXPERTISE IN CASE OF RUNOVER ROLLING STOCK ON AN OBSTACLE

One of the tasks that are being solved during the forensic railway transport expertise is to investigate the actions and circumstances of a railway accident. After analyzing the state of traffic safety in the structure of Ukrzaliznytsia OJSC, the author found that in recent years the number of runover incidents of rolling stock on pedestrians and motor vehicles has increased significantly. This is primarily due to the non-observance of the “Rules of Conduct of Citizens in Railway Transport”. It was noted that when performing such railway transport expertise, the expert receives an incomplete amount of necessary information, which may be the result of incomplete research or the impossibility of giving an opinion on this railway accident. First of all, this is due to the fact that employees of the bodies of the Ministry of Internal Affairs when they are at the scene of a railroad accident have no special knowledge and cannot select the necessary information for the qualitative expertise. And so, after conducting research, the author came to the conclusion that for a full and high-quality railway transport expertise in the event of rolling stock hitting an obstacle (vehicle or person), the expert needs to have the following list of documents and relevant data, namely: original speedometer module KKD-3 memory, registration tape CLUB-U; certificate on the provision of the train with VU-45 brakes; information on the type of track on which the railway accident occurred (link or continuous), the longitudinal profile and the plan of the section of the route on which the railway accident occurred; full-scale sheet form DU-1 for a freight train, and DU-1L – for the passenger; information on the permissible speed of movement in the area of the railway accident; warning on the train form DU-61; graphic reproduction of a clear situation of a railway accident with an indication of a specific stopping point of the train’s head, the location of the obstacle with reference to the picket column. So, having received the necessary information in accordance with the list that is specified in this article, the expert can objectively and reliably assess the impact of the actions of each of the participants in this incident on the implementation of the mechanism of the railway accident as a whole. Key words: forensic railway-transport expertise, rolling stock, runway, locomotive, track, obstacle.

FEATURES OF RESEARCH OF COMMERCIAL FAULTS OF CARGO TRANSPORTATION WHEN EXECUTING FORENSIC RAILWAY TRANSPORT EXAMINATIONS

In the article was noted the importance of the study of the conditions for the carriage of goods by rail transport when executing the railway transport examination, and the main points of such studies are given. One of the causes of the onset of a railroad accident (hereinafter referred to as RTA) with damage to the rolling stock, infrastructure elements, loss of life and loss of cargo through damaged packaging, the integrity of the car body may be a mismatch of the cargo weight with established weight standards, unsatisfactory the technical condition of the rolling stock in which the cargo is transported, improper securing of the cargo in the car, disorder of attachment on the route or interference of unauthorized persons to the cargo itself (theft). As a part of the railway-transport expertise, experts investigate cases of derailment of railway rolling stock, spontaneous movement of cars from the parking lot, followed by their collision, and other cases. Upon the occurrence of an RTA, the compliance of the actions of the railway employees involved with the requirements of regulatory documents, the causal link and the immediate technical reason for its occurrence is investigated. Experts carrying out research within the examination regarded various possible discrepancies that could cause the occurrence of RTA. The inconsistency of the mass of the cargo with the established weight standards for transportation by rail is considered by experts, precisely as a possible discrepancy that could significantly affect the occurrence of the accident. This direction of research requires detailed consideration from the position of forensic expertise. The article discusses individual issues of this type of inconsistency. These points are considered in more detail in a research work devoted to a study of the main transport characteristics of the goods transported and their packages, with an assessment of the possibility of their influence on the causal relationship with the onset of the RTA as part of the railway transport expertise. Each type of faults (inconsistencies) identified during the carriage of goods by rail is investigated as part of the implementation of forensic railway transport examinations and requires the formation of detailed expert approaches. The presented work confirms the relevance of developing a methodology for assessing the impact of cargo transportation features on the onset of railway accidents. Key words: commercial malfunctions, forensic railway-transport expertise, cargo, features of transportation, fasteners, weight standards.

A Comparison of LSA and LDA for the Analysis of Railroad Accident Text

Abstract Latent Semantic Analysis (LSA) and Latent Dirichlet Allocation(LDA) were used to identify themes in a database of text about railroad equipment accidents maintained by the Federal Railroad Administration in the United States. These text mining techniques use different mechanisms to identify topics. LDA and LSA identified switching accidents, hump yard accidents and grade crossing accidents as major accident type topics. LSA identified accidents with track maintenance equipment as a topic. Both text mining models identified accidents with tractor-trailer highway trucks as a particular problem at grade crossings. It was found that the use of the two techniques was complementary, with more accident topics identified than with the use of a single method.

Practicing What You Preach

Introduction:During a mass casualty incident (MCI) seminar in Rome, Italy a survey was used to gauge the self-efficacy and confidence of the participants in managing an MCI. Following the course, a follow-up presentation was held by the Torino EMS Medical Director to evaluate and debrief the Torino Railway incident that occurred one day prior. Students partook in a seminar on MCI management, as well as a debriefing of the Turin Railway accident in which they evaluated the skills used by teams on the scene to manage the incident.Methods:Medical students partook in a seminar to learn to manage an MCI scene, as well as a debriefing of the Turin Railway accident. Following both seminars, the students were given a survey to assess their sense of self-confidence in managing such a situation.Results:The mean level of self-efficacy prior to the MCI training (M=3.43, SD+0.42) increased after the training (M=3.71, SD+0.37) and remained at the same higher level (M=3.71, SD+0.51) after the medical students were exposed to the details of the Turin train accident. The overall difference between the mean self-efficacy scores in the three time frames was not found to be significant. The mean level of confidence in managing MCIs prior to the training (M=2.83; SD+0.89) increased after the training (M=3.56; SD+0.53) and remained higher following the presentation of the Turin train accident, despite a slight decrease (M=3.52, SD+0.63).Discussion:The participants’ surveys showed an increase in their self-efficacy and confidence following the course and follow-up presentation. It is our professional recommendation that real-life events be used in such seminars to increase self-efficacy and confidence. The topic will continue to be evaluated further.

Analysis of sanitary and irretrievable losses depending on the nature and conditions of emergency situations on the railway

Relevance. The relevance of the problem is determined by the importance of rail transport in Russia for supporting a diversified economy and implementing socially important services for transportation of goods, baggage and passengers. A system of rapid response and medical assistance to victims in large-scale emergencies on the railway also exists due to large numbers of victims and remoteness of emergency areas from large settlements.Intention. To develop an algorithm for predicting irretrievable and sanitary losses depending on the nature and conditions of railway accidents.Methods. A comprehensive analysis of the 200 most significant railway accidents in the world from 1960 to 2018. Using statistical procedures, the determinants of the number of victims were assessed.Results and discussion. The average data, the dispersion of the number of victims in emergency situations on the railway were determined depending on the nature of accidents. The factors influencing the number of sanitary and irretrievable losses are identified. A predictive algorithm to determine the number of victims depending on the nature and conditions of railway accidents. The structure of injuries in victims depending on the nature and conditions of railway accidents is described.Conclusion. The data obtained in the study will help in making decisions on the elimination of emergency situations on the railway.

Stature estimation from arm span in living people of Terdal region

Introduction: Identification of a person is the important part of investigation and estimation of stature is important part for identification for medico-legal expert. Estimation of stature from body part is key factor in identification during mass disaster like railway accident, earthquake, building collapse and fire etc. With increasing incidence of above events stature estimation from fragmented body parts become needful. Materials and Methods: The study was carried out over 198 living subjects aged between 10 to 60 years from both rural and urban area of Terdal region. The measurement of arm span was done by calibrated measuring tape between the tips of middle fingers of maximally outstretched hands. The data was analyzed by using Microsoft Excel and statistical programme for social science (SPSS) version 17. Result: In the study mean stature and arm span for male for male subjects are 165.01 and 167.72 respectively and for female subjects it is 154.65 and 156.48 respectively. Mean difference between arm span and stature is more in male 2.71 than female 1.83. And multiplication factor for estimation of stature from arm span is 0.989. Conclusion: Regression equation derived for male sex for stature is 4.042 + (0.960 × AS) with standard error of 2.637 cm and strength of association 0.945. While regression equation derived for female sex for stature is 10.028 + (0.924 × AS) with standard error of 3.295 cm and strength of association 0.881. Keywords: Terdal region, Identification.

A study of bio social profile of victims of medicolegal cases of thoraco-abdominal injuries

A study of bio social profile of victims of medicolegal cases of thoraco-abdominal injuries - IJFMTS- Print ISSN No: - 2581-9844 Online ISSN No:- 2456-9615 Article DOI No:- 10.18231/j.ijfmts.2019.003, IP International Journal of Forensic Medicine and Toxicological Sciences-IP Int J Forensic Med Toxicol Sci

철도사고 현황분석을 통한 국내철도 RCM 수행방안에 관한 연구

철도사고 현황분석을 통한 국내철도 RCM 수행방안에 관한 연구

Isolated condylar fractures diagnosed by post mortem computed tomography

Due to their anatomical location, occipital condylar fractures (OCFs) are usually not observed during traditional autopsies and are therefore considered a rare injury. The aim of this study was to determine the true frequency of OCFs using post-mortem computed tomography (PMCT) in traumatic casualties. We retrospectively analyzed 438 PMCT studies of victims of traffic accidents, falls from height, violence, and low-energy head injuries (324 males and 114 females). OCFs were present in 22.6% of cases (n = 99), mostly in victims of railway accidents (48.5%, n = 17), falls from height (26.6%, n = 29), cyclists (24%, n = 6), and pedestrians hit by cars (22.5%, n = 29). Isolated OCFs were found in 5.5% of cases (n = 24), most often in cyclists (12%, n = 3) and pedestrians (9.3%, n = 12) hit by cars. There were no OCFs in the cases of fatalities caused by violence or accidental low-energy head injury. PMCT scans revealed that OCFs are common in high-energy injury fatalities and can be useful for determining the mechanism of trauma more precisely.

Nonhomogeneous Poisson Process and Compound Poisson Process in the Modelling of Random Processes Related to Road Accidents

Abstract The stochastic processes theory provides concepts and theorems that allow building probabilistic models concerning accidents. So called counting process can be applied for modelling the number of the road, sea and railway accidents in the given time intervals. A crucial role in construction of the models plays a Poisson process and its generalizations. The new theoretical results regarding compound Poisson process are presented in the paper. A nonhomogeneous Poisson process and the corresponding nonhomogeneous compound Poisson process are applied for modelling the road accidents number and number of injured and killed people in the Polish road. To estimate model parameters were used data coming from the annual reports of the Polish police [9, 10]. Constructed models allowed anticipating number of accidents at any time interval with a length of h and the accident consequences. We obtained the expected value of fatalities or injured and the corresponding standard deviation in the given time interval. The statistical distribution of fatalities number in a single accident and statistical distribution of injured people number and also probability distribution of fatalities or injured number in a single accident are computed. It seems that the presented examples explain basic concepts and results discussed in the paper.

Developing a method to improve safety management systems based on accident investigations: The SAfety FRactal ANalysis

The concept of a safety management system (SMS) to control the risks of operational activities has been introduced in high-risk industries already some decades ago. SMS requires accidents/incidents to be reported and analysed and measures to be taken to prevent future events. Additionally, national investigating bodies have been given the role of independently investigating serious events, with the same goal. The current practice in accident and incident investigation however, does not provide a systematic approach to analyse elements of SMS. As a direct consequence, the opportunity to use these investigations for introducing sustainable system changes is often missed.The paper describes the SAfety FRactal ANalysis (SAFRAN) method that is developed to guide investigators to explore the composing elements of an SMS in a natural and logic way, starting from the findings close to operations that explain the occurrence – being the elements accident investigators are first confronted with. The paper further informs on the application of the SAFRAN method to review a selected set of published railway accident investigations, all reporting on occurrences related to over-speeding, possibly resulting in a (lethal) derailment. The depth and focus of the performed investigations is assessed and compared with a reference mode of expected findings that would result from an analysis that is applying the SAFRAN logic. This demonstrates the need, in order to introduce sustainable changes, to focus accident analysis on an organisation’s capability of managing the variability that might put successful process performance at risk.