Interrupted rest periods contributing to ‘immediate threat to safe railway operations’
Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) has been ordered to change its fatigue-management practices and the line-ups of its freight trains in British Columbia because employee fatigue is contributing to what Transport Canada calls “an immediate threat to safe railway operations.”
In 2015, Transport Canada conducted a national audit of CPR’s fatigue-management plan after it learned of complaints from several of the railway’s employees about extended-service runs in British Columbia, between Kamloops and the Vancouver area. CPR — and others in the rail industry — has been using longer trains with more goods on board in order to meet increasing pressure for delivery deadlines.
After the national audit found several issues leading to Transport Canada ordering the railway to implement corrective action plans, Railway Safety Inspector Todd Horie conducted inspections in December 2015 related to the work and rest rules compliance for extended service runs between Kamloops and Greater Vancouver.
Procedures cut into rest times for train crews
The Transport Canada audit discovered that operating train crews for CPR were being required to report for duty at away-from-home terminal rest facilities before they were scheduled to be on duty and to allow for transit to those terminals. Away-from-home terminals are the end of the line of a train where employees have a layover before returning on another train to their home terminal.
The inspection also revealed that CPR employees in B.C. had to accept another assignment if their train was cancelled without being able to book the rest time from the cancelled train, and they were relying on inaccurate train line-ups which made it difficult to estimate their next on-duty shift. This also reduced rest time.
Transport Canada found the way CPR was operating its extended service runs was resulting in employees not getting enough rest between their assignments, leading to employee fatigue that was creating a dangerous situation. Not including transit time to the away-from-home rest facilities and not allowing them to book rest after a cancelled train was cutting into the time employees had to rest between long-haul assignments. In addition, the inaccurate train lineup prevented employees from planning time for proper sleep before they were on duty, according to Horie.
The dangerous situation prompted Horie to send a formal order to CPR ordering the railway, at the home and away-from-home terminals on the Kamloops to Vancouver area routes, to:
• include all transit time to and from the rest facility at the away-from-home terminal as operating crew’s on-duty time
• allow extended service run crews the ability to book up to eight hours undisturbed rest time when trains are cancelled
• have all extended service run trains posted on a line-up either specific to such runs or a general line-up, at least eight hours before call time and up to 12 hours before.
Uncertain schedules keep employees awake waiting
One CPR engineer told CBC News that he sometimes had to wait between 12 and 24 hours at an away-from-home terminal before knowing when he would have a train to take back home. This led to intermittent rest periods resulting in as many as 10 hours of being awake before an eight-hour shift — contributing to fatigue, a messed-up internal clock, and even falling asleep while in control of a train.
“You’re fatigued. You’re done. Your brain is mush. You want to go to sleep. You’re fighting constantly with your body,” the engineer told CBC News. “Your body is telling you one thing, but you know that on the other hand, you’ve got to get that train home… 150 miles of track.”
Horie’s order was effective immediately upon CPR receiving the letter and was to remain in effect until Horie and Tranport Canada were satisfied the hazardous conditions caused by employee fatigue had been addressed.
After the order was received, CPR’s assistant vice-president of communications, Martin Cej, told CBC news the railway “will immediately comply with the terms of the order but will consider all options and the possibility of work scheduling as it relates to this matter.”
“Crews are not on call 24/7. Crews have significant and often unutilized opportunities to schedule rest,” Cej added later in another statement. “CP has been taking steps to ensure crew members take more rest, but union collective agreements have been a barrier to change.”
Though there have been concerns about scheduling and railway employee exhaustion before, this is the first time Transport Canada has made an enforcement action declaring an “imminent threat,” according to CBC News.
Highlights from Transport Canada Rail Safety Inspector Todd Horie’s letter to Keith Shearer, General Manager, Operating Standards and Regulatory Affairs for Canadian Pacific Railway Company:
I am a Railway Safety Inspector designated by the Minister of Transport under subection 27(1) of the Railway Safety Act (RSA).
Operating train crews are being required to:
• Report for duty at the away-from-home terminal rest facility in advance of their on-duty time and to allow for transit to the away-from-home terminal;
• Accept, without ability to book rest thereafter, “call and cancels,” only to be then reordered without the intervening down times being counted towards their hours of service;
• Anticipate work calls, using inaccurate train line-ups, including the omission
of trains.
— all of the above reduces necessary rest, and creates excessive fatigue. This is
occurring at locations on CP within British Columbia including but not limited
to Roberts Bank, Coquitlam, and Kamloops.
This information was discovered as a result of inspections for Work Rest Rule compliance related to Extended Service Run (ESR) train crews, performed during the month of December 2015; complaints have been received from multiple crew members operating in ESR pools between Kamloops and the Greater Vancouver Area terminals.
As a result, this Notice and Order is being issued under subsection 31(2) of the RSA to inform you that, in my opinion, an immediate threat to safe railway operations exists. Pursuant to subsection 4(4.1) of the RSA, an immediate threat is defined as “a situation already exists” wherein “a hazard or condition such that a person could be injured or made to be ill or damage could be caused to the environment or property.”
Hazard(s) or Condition(s)
CP Rail’s operations, specific to ESR, are creating conditions which are causing fatigue to accumulate in operating crews, thereby reducing their alertness, while in care and control of trains. The operational conditions contributing to this are:
• Not including transit time, to and from the away-from-home rest facility, and the away-from-home terminal as time on duty;
• Not allowing crews to book rest at the away-from-home terminal after being cancelled for duty;
• Not listing ESR trains on the train line-up for a sufficient amount of time. This does not allow crew members sufficient planning time for a sleep cycle prior to being on duty.
I therefore order that Canadian Pacific Railway Company:
At the home, and away-from-home terminals of Kamloops, Roberts Bank, and Port Coquitlam (Greater Vancouver Area Terminals inclusive):
• Shall include all transit time to and from the rest facility at the away-from-home terminal as operating crew’s on-duty time;
• Shall allow ESR crews the ability to book up to eight hours undisturbed rest when cancelled;
• Shall have all ESR trains posted on the ESR specific train line-up or a general line-up if utilized, for a minimum of eight hours prior to call time, and up to a maximum call time of 12 hours.
