Taking a Human Factors Approach to Safety Critical Communications Training: A Case Study

The GB rail industry recognises that clear and effective communication is vital, not only to safety, but also to good team work and efficiency. Many initiatives have been developed around structured communications, including... [ view full abstract ]

The GB rail industry recognises that clear and effective communication is vital, not only to safety, but also to good team work and efficiency. Many initiatives have been developed around structured communications, including communications training, assessment and provision of feedback.  Despite these efforts, weaknesses in safety critical communications (SCCs) continue to be implicated in rail incidents.  In a recent review of 235 GB rail incidents, SCCs were identified as a contributory factor in 21% of cases.   

It is apparent that communication rules in the railways, particularly the requirements for formal communications such as read-back and use of the phonetic alphabet, are not always followed. There are a range of reasons for this, such as organisational culture, peer pressure and usability of procedures, but also underlying competence issues.  As a result, RSSB funded a research project to update and expand the training materials on safety critical communications to support all members of the industry, with the aim of producing:

• A modular online training course to support: initial training of frontline staff; development training of existing staff; assessor training; communication review group (CRG) member training; CRG Chair training and sharing good practice around SCC practice and protocols.

• An accompanying communications manual, produced in modular format, as a day-to-day reference guide to support ongoing good practice in safety critical communications.

• A set of national criteria for industry-wide communication training in order to guide the development of further training materials to an acceptable industry standard, allowing organisations to tailor training to the changing risk profile.

This paper will describe how a human factors approach was taken to the development of the above in order to design a training programme based on end-user needs.  Features of the approach that differ from previous SCC training initiatives include:

1. In-depth overview of existing SCC training and quality in GB and elsewhere to identify gaps, weaknesses and specific end-user requirements.

2. A ‘whole-industry’ focus, rather than individual support to specific roles.

3. Front-line focused and designed to be accessible and appealing to staff involved in SCCs day-to-day.

4. Training delivered in modules to support its delivery in different contexts.

5. Voiced as an experienced, competent member of the rail industry (“We need to…”) rather than an authoritarian dictator (“You must….”).

6. Development of the Contract Communications model to convey the importance of accurate, brief, clear and professional SCCs.

7. A defined Message Structure to support memory and continued good practice.

8. Clear and unambiguous definition of Lead Responsibility (which the research identified has been a particular area of confusion for many years).

Key features of the resulting training programme will be presented, including the online materials, communication manual and national training criteria.