For years, unfair and outdated medical assessments barred safety-critical staff from doing the jobs for which they’re both qualified and physically capable. This has created significant challenges for employees as well as employers. A new approach was badly needed.
Take colour vision testing for train drivers as an example. Rail standards required the use of a recognised test—the Ishihara test—that has some drawbacks. For instance, although it determines ‘normal’ colour vision, it doesn’t assess the degree of severity of any colour vision deficiency.
Granted, the legislation stipulated that a secondary recognised test could be used if required. But alternative options were never identified. This meant that, inevitably, train drivers who failed the Ishihara test were pulled from duty. In addition, would-be drivers with a mild deficiency stood no chance of landing a job.
Being unfairly removed from work is demoralising, but repercussions extend well beyond the individual. Operational performance, and by extension customer safety and satisfaction, are affected too. So, those old rules, unchanged since 2014, had to make way for a modern method that’s a better fit for today’s railway.
Fit for duty
In March this year, RSSB issued a new rail industry standard about medical fitness assessments. It replaced the three that were causing problems for the industry. It reflects advances in medical knowledge, examination methods, and legal updates, and provides the guidance for medical fitness assessments that’s needed today.
There has been positive reception from both operators and ASLEF—passionate proponents of better practices—which has been encouraging. The trade union has said that RSSB’s research into colour vision testing ‘… will give a greater opportunity for those currently excluded from driving trains to achieve their ambitions.’
The new standard also covers other equally important medical issues faced by safety-critical workers. These include diabetes, obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome, and musculoskeletal conditions. Having all this up-to-date information to hand is proving to be game-changing for rail organisations.
Real-world examples of the positive results are being reported to RSSB. For example, we’ve heard about a colleague with diabetes who had a medical assessment that confirmed he can do his job safely despite his condition. He’s now been given the green light to work as a train driver.
Under the old ‘regime’, safety-critical staff just like this train driver could have been prevented from doing their job by unclear, unhelpful rules. Those rules offered little benefit to individuals, the industry, or customers so it was worth revising them.
Now we’re hearing positive human stories of people enabled and empowered to continue to do their work safely. This shows not just that it was time for change, but that the changes are working.