title: The Hinton train disaster.
abstract: In February of 1986 a head-on collision occurred between a freight train and a passenger train in western Canada killing 23 people and causing over $30 million of damage. A Commission of Inquiry appointed by the Canadian government concluded that human error was the major reason for the collision. This report discusses the factors contributing to the human error: mainly poor work-rest schedules, the monotonous nature of the train driving task, insufficient information about train movements, and the inadequate backup systems in case of human error.
authors.affiliation: Human Factors North Inc., Toronto, Canada.
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Smiley
mesh_terms: D000056:Accident Prevention; D000416:Alberta; D002940:Circadian Rhythm / Q000502:physiology; D004190:Disasters / Q000517:prevention & control; D004526:Efficiency; D006801:Humans; D011890:Railroads; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D014940:Work Schedule Tolerance