Jumping in front of trains is a desperate and violent means of suicide. It creates enormous trauma for the drivers involved - and it is happening all over the world on an alarming scale

Seconds before a potential collision with a person who appears, suddenly and inexplicably, on the track, a train driver has to make a decision. Should he or she risk derailment by applying the emergency brake, which, in any event, will not bring the train to an immediate halt? Or will the trespasser cross swiftly to safety, rendering such a response unnecessarily dangerous?

The momentary dilemma must be awful and so, say drivers who have seen it, is the look of terror on a victimís face just before impact occurs. Whether suicide or simple trespass, it is often impossible to know. Either way, that look is frozen on the memory of the driver and may be among a cocktail of torments to keep him or her off work for weeks or months to come. Panic attacks, unreliability, alcoholism, and feelings of fear and anxiety are cited by psychologists as typical long term reactions.

These experiences are extreme but, sadly, not rare. German union Transnet reports 1000 rail suicides nationwide per year, as well as over 1300 incidents involving trespassers on the track. In the US in 2000, 463 people were killed trespassing on the track while 414 were injured. Suicides have peaked at 30,000 per year for the last four years in Japan, most commonly among middle-aged men – the chief victims of restructuring measures in recession-hit companies. Each year around 800 of these suicide cases in Japan involve people jumping in front of trains.

During the 1990s, suicide deaths on just one rail network – operated by the East Japan Railway Company, otherwise known as JR East, increased from 81 per year at the start of the decade to 212 in 1999.

How can employers and unions work to reverse such a trend, or at least try to mitigate the devastating effects on employees?

Practical measures

JR East has considered both ends of the practical prevention spectrum. On the one hand, in common with other rail companies, it charges the families of suicide victims for any damage caused by the accident. On the other, it has sponsored the setting up of a suicide telephone help-line. The company has tried painting rail crossings, where many trespassers gain access to the tracks, bright green, in an effort to alter the state of mind of would-be suicides. It has cut back tree branches to deny trespassers their privacy, and increased the number of surveillance cameras along its route.

At enclosed stations, where a substantial proportion of suicides take place, JR East has installed mirrors opposite platforms in the hope that people will be deterred from jumping by the prospect of watching themselves in action.
Similar attempts at prevention have been tried in other countries. Metro Railway in Calcutta, India, for example, has been working with the Calcutta Samaritans to try and reduce its alarming rate of suicide attempts – over one per month in 2001/2. Mirrors, calming music and posters urging people to choose life over death have appeared in all 17 of its underground stations.

Clearly rail companies are in no position to tackle the socio-economic problems that may underly heightened suicide rates. It makes sense therefore that practical measures should be attempted to stave off individual suicide attempts, but concentrated hands-on prevention is needed over and above product-based mechanisms.

Stress and suicide

Ironically, at a time when economic pressures, restructuring, privatisation and so on have helped to create the kind of tensions that can aggravate suicide rates, the same pressures are applied to rail organisations (and other transport sectors). In the wake of privatisation of rail services, in one country after another, staff levels have been cut to a minimum, adding to the pressure on drivers and station workers, and thereby compromising their safety roles.

In this climate, rail companies may be reluctant to invest directly in added safety, for example through the provision of more training to help prevent potential suicide attempts, and to help drivers make the right decision in an emergency. There are also basic issues such as maintaining adequate staffing levels and developing dedicated safety roles.

Care for drivers

However a great deal of work has been done by rail unions to secure proper procedures and care for drivers who have been involved in accidents of this kind. In Brazil, for example, where suicide rates are climbing alongside increasing levels of passenger violence, psychologists are employed to help drivers who are involved in traumatic incidents (see box). In Austria, where there are around 400 suicides per year on the tracks, the national railway company and the union GDE have worked together to develop an “emergency intervention team”.

Two members of the team are professionals specialising in crisis intervention. Otherwise the system is peer-group based, with members trained in post-traumatic counselling, but doing their regular job in the railway system.

If there is a suicide or other traumatic incident, the worker involved can contact someone from the peer group. In 2002 workers chose to contact a colleague from the intervention team in 365 instances. The company pays for around three meetings, after which the intervention team member may recommend referral to a professional counsellor. While counselling continues, the train driver is on sick leave and costs are covered by health insurance. The scheme involves ongoing close cooperation between the employer, the helper and the union.

Many urgent issues – of economic pressures, rising suicide rates, and relationships between governments, contractors and trade unions come together in the case of Argentina. Severe economic crisis has had a dramatic impact on the financing and running of public transport, among many services, and provides a backdrop to rising suicide rates in the country. In 2002 the government acted to provide emergency assistance for rail and underground services in the capital Buenos Aires. In the midst of crisis it has chosen to work constructively with rail unions including La Fraternidad (drivers’ union) over critical safety issues relating to pedestrian collisions, including suicides.

In November 2000 La Fraternidad asked the government to set up a commission for the monitoring, analysis and prevention of work accidents and risks on the railways. This was established the following month, with representatives from La Fraternidad, La Union Ferrovia (the general railway union) and rail transport contractor companies.

Following a further request in 2002 the Commission of Railway Safety was given permanent status. It is chaired by a mediator from the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security, which facilitates communication between the parties to obtain agreement by consensus.

The Commission meets monthly and has agreed a binding procedure for the prevention and treatment of post-traumatic stress due to railway accidents involving collisions with pedestrians. This has been adopted by the labour ministry and includes provision for time off, medical care and counselling.

In the midst of unprecedented stresses on train drivers, who are having to cope simultaneously with restructuring, cuts to jobs and conditions, and high levels of railway trespassing and attempted suicide, unions are making a big contribution to tackling the aftermath of collisions. They have a continued critical role to play in working with governments, employers and other stakeholders to create an environment where suicide attempts are less likely to happen, and when they do happen, are more easily controlled.

Suicide and trespass: a daily reality in Brazil

The number of suicides on the railways is growing with time, along with harassment from drug dealers and other violent incidents including murder. There are many situations where people fail to cross the tracks on time despite any number of warning whistles, making it impossible for drivers to avoid running them over, and in many cases, to know whether these were suicides or accidents.

A typical procedure on the railways in Rio de Janeiro would be as follows: After a collision with a pedestrian, a driver is immediately replaced. He or she then has a choice, either to go immediately into counselling with a company psychologist or to go straight home and then attend a session with a psychologist the following day.

The condition of the driver is then evaluated. If he or she is judged able to continue working, the driver will return to work, but normally on a different route, to avoid passing through the site of the accident for a while.

In more serious cases, the driver is temporarily removed from work to undergo medical tests and counselling. While in counselling, he or she may continue working in an alternative capacity before returning to driving. Before taking up normal work, the driver will practice the route, accompanied by a fellow worker.

Coping with suicide attempts and violence have become daily experiences for railway workers in Brazil. All workers whose jobs are related to railway traffic and safety go through periodical medical and psychological checks to ensure they can cope with the situation.

By Janaina Fernandes, of the CNTTT, Brazil, with additional information from Supervia, a private rail company based in Rio de Janeiro. Janaina Fernandes is a psychologist and has worked with the state-owned company Flumitrens in Rio de Janeiro for many years.