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| RAIL PROFESSIONAL INTERVIEW
Interview RANKED NTS PRIORITY ORDER ACROSS SOME RAIL SAFETY CRITICAL ROLES Train Driver
Train Conductor
Train Driver
Depot Driver
1. Maintain concentration
1. Maintain concentration
1. Prioritising and multi-tasking
1. Maintaining concentration
2. Anticipate Risk
2. Maintain and develop knowledge
2. Retaining information
2. Attention to detail
3. Attention to detail
3. Multi-tasking
2. Maintaining concentration
3. Anticipating risk
3. Anticipating risk
2. Anticipating risk
3. Positive attitude to rules & procedures 4. Clarity in communications *Some NTS are ranked equal and therefore have a joint placing
job analysis form the foundations of each test we develop. Key psychometric principles of reliability, fairness, validity and discriminability are applied from the start. Each tool developed by us will go through meticulous testing processes with key validation groups to ensure they assess for the competencies they are designed for. How do you develop transport specific assessment tools? We are continually developing and evolving our range of assessment tools. One such tool is the Visual Search Exercise (VSE) https:// www.theopc.co.uk/assessment/test/vse. This was developed in collaboration with a leading UK train company. It came about through a review of Post Incident Assessments (PIA) with train drivers who were having multiple incidents including SPaDs (signals passed at danger). After extensive analysis of data from the safety incidents it was identified that a NTS shortfall around concentration, and an overreliance on past experience, (sometimes referred to as a habituated or a conditioned response) may have been some underlying causes. The VSE was specifically designed to test for these competencies and behaviours. As a digital test, a driver candidate must maintain concentration and focus on key visual cues, respond to them whilst multitasking and remaining situationally aware. We believed that we’d developed the right test – but did it work? Validation research with UK rail companies was able to show that drivers who had more safety-of-the-line incidents also had lower VSE performance scores. This helped to provide evidence that the VSE was assessing for the correct competencies. This was a key achievement for OPC Assessment – developing a test that could specifically help to improve train driver safety Rail Professional
performance. Since the test was introduced, thousands of applicants around the world have sat the VSE to help assess their suitability for a driver or other safety critical roles. What are some typical responses you get from clients about using Assessment tools? Something that is dear to my heart and is perhaps distinctive for psychologists is our desire and drive to be evidence based. Some clients don’t believe that assessment tools are of value; that they are flawed and can’t help to improve safety on the railway. No assessment tool is perfect and error free. However, validation exercises and research of our tests and tools has shown they can work and add value. As mentioned, validation studies help demonstrate the soundness of a test i.e., to ensure that what we are assessing for is actually being measured and demonstrated. We firmly believe that psychometrics used as part of the recruitment and/or development process can add value and help to improve safety of our people in the rail industry. With each new task, we aspire to be evidence based – to accumulate empirical evidence to show what we are doing and using is helping and working, and without hesitation to abandon those that don’t add value. I love quotes, I find them thought provoking and inspiring. Socrates, (a very wise man!) is quoted as saying: ‘To believe without evidence and demonstration is an act of ignorance and folly’. A great by-word for me as a psychologist! What are some of the ‘headlines’ you’ve picked up from your safety culture surveys? I like to use the phrase ‘the shields of safety’ a lot when I am talking about safety to clients.
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I describe it as a layered shield around an employee – protecting them and helping possible safety incidents ‘bounce’ off them. The first layer of the shield is the individual employee themselves – their knowledge, experience and in particular their NTS. The second layer is the employees’ job – how it’s been designed, including its makeup, shift patterns, complexity and/or interest. The next layer is the Competency Management System or the framework that they undertake their job in. e.g., how they are trained and certified, measured and managed as well as how they are supported in succeeding. The safety culture of the organisation is the final ‘layer of the shield’ and could be described as ‘The way we do safety around here.’ It can have a powerful impact on how we behave at work. Generally, human beings are creatures of conformity and we (mostly!) like to fit in. So, the organisation’s safety culture can affect whether an individual thinks and acts more safely e.g., do they plan for risks, are they aware of their personal ‘state’ do they complete adequate checks prior to departure etc. Also key, is whether they are encouraged to value safety as a key priority in all aspects of their day-to-day work. When there is a strong organisational safety culture in place, there is evidence to suggest that overall safety performance is better. From an employee’s perspective, if all the four layers of the shield are in place, then the likelihood is that the potential for safety incidents is greatly lessened.
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