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Introduction
The role of train driver has long been well regarded and is traditionally highly sought after amongst railway employees and external candidates. When positions become available, very large numbers of applicants come forward and processing of these becomes a major logistic exercise.
Overall
Career Focus has developed an on-line (web based) registration/filtering process in which self report de-selection questions are followed by qualitative and quantitative assessment. The questions are designed in collaboration with the client to reflect current administrative requirements such as educational attainment or driving record etc. The process provides a Merit List of qualified candidates whose abilities are further validated by psychometric testing during assessment centres.
Groups of candidates are then invited to participate in a series of full day Assessment Centre, depending on the total number of trainees required.
Specific Methodology
The methodology consists of the following steps.
- Pre advertising
- Filtering
- Assessment
- Assessment Centre
- Reporting
Candidate Pool
Subsequent assessment centres draw candidates from the Merit List as necessary. When sufficient candidates are in training or the Merit List is depleted to the extent that no candidates in the assessment centres meet minimum requirements, the recruitment process is repeated.
At any stage in the process the Merit list can be supplemented by applicants who between recruitment campaigns voluntarily submit applications to the client. They undertake the online process and their results are merged with the Merit list.
Heart attack caused rail crash - report
The Waterfall train crash which killed seven people on January 31 last year was caused by driver Herman Zeides suffering a sudden heart attack and losing control of the train, the special commission of inquiry into the disaster has found.
However, Commissioner Peter McInerney found there was no deliberate conduct by Mr Zeides that led to the tragedy.
Instead, Commissioner McInerney found the deadman's brake pedal on the train had failed because the static weight of Mr Zeides' legs was such that it did not activate the emergency brake. The inquiry report, released by NSW Premier Bob Carr, found Mr Zeides' heart attack occurred just outside Waterfall station, south of Sydney, where a downhill gradient led into a curve.
But Commissioner McInerney found that, aside from the deadman's brake failing to activate, there were no malfunctions of or defects in the Tangara train, known as G7, or any defect in the track or associate infrastructure.
He said a "task-linked vigilance device", if fitted, could have prevented the accident. Commissioner McInerney was scathing in his criticism of the State Rail Authority, saying it had failed to properly check Mr Zeides' health, install an effective "deadman" emergency-breaking system and properly train the guard on G7.
"The inadequacy of the medical standards adopted by the State Rail Authority for the periodic medical examination of Mr Zeides was a factor which contributed to the accident," he said in the report.
"If Mr Zeides' severe underlying coronary artery disease had been detected by a more rigorous process of medical assessment than was undertaken, then not only would the accident probably have been avoided, it may also have saved lives and injuries."
Commissioner McInerney said there were three key areas in which the government needed to improve.
The first was rail safety management, including improvements to driver safety systems, the use of data loggers - the rail equivalent of a black box - and better communications within rail organisations on safety issues.
The second area was emergency response, including the crashworthiness of trains, emergency access to and egress from trains, and improvement of communications between police, ambulance, fire and rail personnel.
The third area he outlined was human factors management, including improvements to medical examinations of "safety-critical" employees and consideration of psychological screening of such employees.
©AAP 15 Jan 2004
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